


pied piper

by waffleplier



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Anime and Manga Spoilers, F/M, Female Reader, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, Mutual Pining, Swearing, Teasing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a little bit of angst but nothing too bad lol, but like the funny kind, mentioned death of tobio’s grandfather
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28675305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waffleplier/pseuds/waffleplier
Summary: "you can throw a fit but it's no use."ora story in which you annoy kageyama tobio every day to try to get him to smile a little more.❁ lowercase is intentional ❁
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Reader
Comments: 15
Kudos: 81





	1. each morning ❁

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by 'teasing master takagi-san’ so most chapters will have similar stories <3

**monday - 19 april, xxxx**

your first day at karasuno high school. you didn't know if anyone from your middle school would be joining you but you were determined to make at least one new friend. you didn't want to go the whole school year seemingly looking like the class loser.

you walked on the sidewalk with a bounce in your step. maybe if you pretended to be in a good mood, you'd trick your brain into thinking you were happy to be at school for once... right? it wouldn't hurt to try! so, you carried on. walking inside the school, you tried remembering which locker was yours.

_was it 51 or 61? hmm..._

as you made your way through the rows, excusing yourself as you shuffled behind other students, you finally found your shoe locker. you perked up as you saw your name written underneath the number. _ah so it was 62. at least it has my name so i won't have to remember a number._

you changed your shoes and finally made your way up to your class. you were thankful that as a first year you wouldn't have to walk all the way to the top floor. still, it would come sooner than you know. you looked around and saw students chatting. you kinda wished you had someone as well to chat with so you didn't feel so awkward making your way to your classroom, but you had the entire year to make new friends. today is just the beginning.

you looked up to try to find the class numbers. yours was 1-3... 1-3... ah there it was. outside the classroom window was the seating chart. as you glanced inside, you saw how the classroom was arranged. there were 3 rows but each desk was doubled, which meant whoever you sat with would be right next to you. you didn't mind but you really hoped they didn't smell. then, you began to wonder if _you_ smelled. _good thing i showered for longer this morning..._

you stood a little ways back as there were some classmates of yours looking at the paper. some looked sad and complained to their friends that they sat too far apart. others were excited and others looked just as nervous as you felt. as your peers walked into the classroom, you moved your feet to look for your name. you used your pointer finger to closely look for your name. it was until long that you found it.

F6... in the back corner? _that's not too bad_ , you thought to yourself. hopefully your vision didn't fail you this year and the people in front of you weren't too tall. sitting in the back wasn't the worst thing in the world to happen to you. plus, you could get away with doing other things without the teacher noticing if you got bored.

you look at all the other names in your class. there were none you recognized so surely you had to muster up the strength to talk to your new peers. you looked at the name that was assigned to sit next to you. _kageyama tobio... hmm doesn't ring a bell._ you wondered who your seat mate would be like and you hoped that you could quickly become friends.

you took a deep breath and walked inside your class. you prayed to any god that could hear to help you make it through your first day. you didn't want to admit it but your hands shook as you made your way to the desk right by the door. thankfully, it had a small F6 marked in the corner so you wouldn't mistakingly sit in someone else's seat. that would surely be embarrassing. you didn't want to gain any attention for such a silly mistake.

there were a couple of students in the class but none close enough for you to make conversation. there were still about 10 minutes before class started so you would just have to sit silently and control your nerves. you placed your bag on the the desk and sat. you only took out a small notebook, a pencil, and eraser since you assumed it would mostly be introduction at first. your leg bounced as you glanced around. _what to do, what to do._

you sighed. so much for wanting to make new friends. you couldn't even bring yourself to look at any of your classmates just yet. you hoped time would tick by and you'd be in home in bed watching your favorite show. you placed your elbow on your desk and rest your head in your hand. you tapped the pencil nervously as your leg bounced up and down, up and down. you closed your eyes and another sigh escaped your mouth as you tried to swallow your heart. you were sure you would throw it up if you didn't calm down.

"excuse me," a voice said. your eyes shot open and your whole body tensed. it was as if you had been caught watching something you weren't supposed to, but really someone had just startled you. embarrassed for having such a reaction, you placed your hands in your lap and looked over to where the voice was.

your eyes met two intimidating, blue eyes. the boy before you practically towered over you since you were sitting. you felt your face go hot as you realized you were staring at the male before you and gulped.

"y-yeah?"

he looked down at the desk and then looked back at you.

"are you..." he began, but then looked away. you were confused. did he know your name? did he know... you?

"sorry, i saw the name sitting next to me... but i'm not very good with remembering them."

you saw a slight blush appear on his face. he must be as nervous as you are. you giggled at his reaction which caused him to look at you again. he wondered why you suddenly began to laugh and embarrassment built up in the male.

"h-hey! i said i'm not too good with names!"

his fists clenched and he pulled the seat to sit down. as he mumbled something, obviously flustered by you, the boy looked away but you continued staring at him. you could still see the pink tint on his cheeks, so you took your finger and poked his side. he jumped and it made you laugh again. he looked at you in surprise and you suddenly had the confidence to talk to your new seat mate.

"it's l/n y/n. it's just the first day, so don't be so embarrassed about remembering my name. i'd be surprised if it was the middle of the year and you didn't know my name!"

you thought your commentary would have made him smile at least, but he only stared at you. you couldn't exactly read his expression, but you continued trying to get your new seat mate to open up.

"so? you are?"

he looked away once again but you still caught him stealing glances from the corner of his eye.

"kageyama... tobio," he said, resting his cheek in his hand as you had done a moment ago. it was a start for sure so you smiled warmly although he wasn't looking at you. you had calmed down a bit so with the few minutes you had left before class began, you decide to continue talking to your new friend.

"so, kageyama-san, which junior high did you go to?"

you saw kageyama relax a bit and respectfully looked back at you to answer.

"kitagawa first," he replied with not much emotion in his voice. you cocked your head at his reply. it seemed somewhat familiar to you.

"ah! the school with amazing athletics!"

the male perked up and you could see his eyes widen just a bit. you smiled so he would see your friendliness this time.

"y-yeah, i play volleyball," he answered. you mentally gave yourself a pat on the back for knowing a little bit about his former school. this way you could at least make some conversation with him.

"ah, that's cool! i had a senpai who played volleyball at chidoriyama. he told me to come to one their matches but they lost to your team! you guys were so good my senpai couldn't even be mad about losing to you!"

as you spoke about his favorite thing in the world, you seemed to spot small stars in kageyama's eyes. you were glad that even if you didn't know all too much about volleyball that you could at least praise his old team. he didn't reply so you continued talking so it would encourage him to keep talking as well.

"so, are you playing on karasuno's team?"

it was silent for a moment when kageyama realized it was his turn to talk. he cleared his throat, once again embarrassed when he realized he was just staring at you.

"uh, yeah. i turned in my application to their manager and i'm going to the gym after school to talk to the captain."

"that's cool! well, if it all works out, i'll come watch you play!"

before kageyama could reply, the class representative stands up and tells the class to do the same as your new teacher walks in.

"good morning, sensei!"

as the two of you sit back down, you catch kageyama looking at you from the corner of his eye. you turn to look at your new seat mate, causing him to look at you as well. you simply give him a warm smile and look back to front of the room.

maybe this year won't be so bad.

❁

the next morning, you arrive to your class early yet again. _maybe tomorrow i can sit outside under the cherry blossoms before coming inside. too much time to kill_ , you thought to yourself as you took out your biology notebook and textbook. as you began to write the title of the first chapter to take notes, you heard scraping of the chair next to you.

you winced at the sound and glanced to find your new seat mate, kageyama tobio, slumped and glaring out the window from across the classroom. you found yourself staring at him for moment before continuing to write the title and opening up the textbook. you pushed it over so the two of you could share it, but found his elbow to be in the way. you squinted at the boy, who was clearly in a bad mood.

"good morning, kageyama-san!"

you nudged his elbow with the open textbook, which made him move it aside but he still didn't look at you. you moved your head so you could get a good look at his face. he noticed and quickly turned his back to you and grabbed his own notebook out of his bag. with a small smack of his notebook and his forehead meeting the desk, kageyama sighed.

"morning," he finally grumbled.

"you sleep alright?"

he only made a groaning noise which made you smile. you wondered why your new friend was in a sour mood. maybe talking about volleyball would cheer him up like it did yesterday!

"so, did you talk to the captain? are you gonna play this year?"

you didn’t see it, but the male rolled his eyes at the mention of his favorite sport. he didn't perk up at the sound of it either so maybe something had gone wrong with the volleyball club. perhaps you shouldn't have mentioned it?

"stupid, tangerine," you heard him grumble. you wondered if you had heard him wrong and laughed at the boy. _was he mad about... fruit?_ you wondered. kageyama finally looked back up and you saw the menacing stare he was giving the chalkboard. you waited for him to explain, but quickly realized he wouldn't open up unless you carried on the conversation.

"kageyama-san, how'd it go yesterday?"

"horrible," he replied right away. you placed your head on your hand and rest your elbow on the table. you stared at kageyama for a bit and examined his face for a moment. you would be lying if you said you didn't find your new friend a bit attractive. even as he stared daggers into the chalkboard, his side profile would make any girl swoon. that was besides the point. you continued trying to figure him out. it wasn’t really working.

he sighed, seemingly trying to calm down and not trying to direct his anger to you. he knew you hadn't done anything to put him in a bad mood so he wouldn't treat you as if you had.

"sorry, l/n-san. there's another first year i played against last year who also wants to be on the team but... we had a disagreement and there was an incident. the captain said unless we can work together, we can't be on the team."

you didn't exactly know how to cheer him up or how to help him. you hummed in thought trying to come up with a solution. as you continued thinking of some way to help out kageyama, he spoke up again.

"we're having a 3-on-3 against the captain, but... ugh," he grabbed a fistful of his hair and groaned into his hands. you smiled sympathetically at his frustration. you were still trying to understand the situation without pushing too much. you wondered what could be so wrong about a 3-on-3 game? if he was a good player and the team needed new players, you were sure the captain wouldn't reject him.

you poked kageyama's side and he jumped. he looked over at you with surprise written all over his face. you gave him a warm smile to indirectly reassure him that everything would be alright. even if you didn't understand much of what was happening, you wanted to make sure your friend would be alright.

"you're a good player, right? i'm sure you can win against the captain."

he rolls his eyes at you and mumbles a "yeah right." you giggle at his reaction, making him look at you again.

"so, how come you're pissed off?"

"because!" he exclaims, his face turning slightly red when he realizes his outburst made some of your classmates turn to look at you both. he looks away from everyone, only to catch your calming demeanor before him. he sighs.

"because if we lose, i can't play as the setter."

he slumps down in his chair and you notice his hands are clenched. with that, you assumed his position was the setter. if this was the reason he was so upset, you wanted to encourage him to do his best during the match. you took his clenched fist into your hand confidently, making him turn to look at you when you did.

"listen, i've only watched you play once and to be honest, i don't remember much of the match anyways... but i'm sure you're a great player and the captain wouldn't want to lose awesome talent! so, work hard, kageyama-kun!"

at the sound of you changing the honorific, the setter begins to blush. he pulls his hand away, making you smile brightly at the volleyball player. as he examines you, kageyama realizes what just happened.

"h-hey, we just met yesterday! you can't change honorifics!"

"aw, c'mon! i'm just trying to be nice since you're so worked up."

"i-i'm not! you can't just grab people's hands and change honorifics like that!"

"don't take it the wrong way. i just want you to do your best!"

you give the setter another smile as he finally looks at you again. you can see the bright red tint across his face and you poke him. he grabs his side as you do so and gives you a menacing stare. he doesn't say anything though, so you laugh at his expression.

"fine, i won't call you that just yet. just do your best so i can come watch your games, okay?"

❁

you had gotten out late from [club name] and you were starving. you changed your shoes and walked out of the school. the sun had already set and a couple of twinkling stars could be seen in the night sky. you were happy that you lived in a smaller city so the pollution didn't affect your region as much to cover up the pretty stars.

as you parted ways with some of your new club members, you walked along the sidewalk with a small bounce in your step. even if you were a little scared to walk by yourself, it was a bit calming to hear the spring insects chirping away. you could also hear cheers and chatter from soccer players in the school's field. it was only until you heard a familiar voice that you saw your seat mate with a volleyball in his hand.

kageyama had turned his head for a moment and took a second glance when he realized it was you that was standing a few feet away from him. as you heard another arguing about something with him, kageyama interrupted to wave at you.

"hey, l/n-san." he said casually.

"hey! i was still talking!"

you smiled at your seat mate and continued walking so you stood next to him. you finallysaw who was so passionately trying to regain your seat mate's attention. a small ginger boy holding a bike next to him glanced between you and then back at the taller male.

"since you don't wanna argue back, i clearly won this time!"

this commentary from ginger made the setter tense up and growl.

"shut up, idiot! i'm trying to talk to my friend!"

you perked up at his comment. as the two boys stood there looking at each other like feral dogs, you poked kageyama's stomach which made him flinch and the smaller boy grin in amusement.

"so we are friends, kageyama-kun?"

your seat mate gave you a glare and you could see under the streetlight that his jaw had clenched.

"i told you not to change honorifics like that!"

you giggled at his angry expression and looked back the ginger who was watching the two of you intently.

"fine, but aren't you gonna introduce me? i didn't know you had other friends."

"we're not!" the two boys exclaimed, which made you squint at the two of them. you cocked your head when you realized the boy before you was the tangerine that kageyama had grumbled about in the morning. you smiled at the smaller boy as you introduced yourself.

"since kageyama-kun is so rude... i'm l/n y/n."

the boy gave you a casual nod and you could see him returning the bright smile. it warmed your heart to see such a large smile on his face and thought for a moment on how adorable it fit the small boy.

"my name is hinata shoyo! you can just call me shoyo though!"

you now had made another friend at your new high school. shoyo was a lot more cheerful than your seat mate so you wondered if kageyama hung out around shoyo it would also make him a little brighter. you would just have to wait and see.

"ah, so you're the one giving my dear kageyama-kun a hard time!"

the two boys tensed up. you giggled as kageyama noticeably became angrier as you addressed him so informally. you didn't want to come off as a rude person and would stop if he was uncomfortable, but it seemed he was just confused at how comfortable you had become around him so quickly. he gave up on trying to change your mind and would try to find a way to get you back.

"if anything he's the one giving me a hard time," shoyo mumbled to himself.

"i'm right here you idiots!"

"hey, you shouldn't call your friends stuff like that, kageyama-kun. it kinda hurts my feelings."

the setter growled at your comment. he only calmed down when he realized you were just teasing him again. he was slightly pissed off by your confidence, but since you weren’t harmful, he brushed it off. he'd just have to get used to it since the two of you would be sitting next to each other all year. oh brother.

"well, i'll see you two another time. it was nice meeting you, shoyo-kun!"

as you walked away, kageyama realized he had to walk the same direction as you. ignoring shoyo's reminder to be at school by 5, kageyama caught up to you pretty quickly. trying not to seem obvious, he held the volleyball closer to him for some comfort. it wasn't until you heard footsteps behind you that you saw kageyama. you smiled to yourself.

"if you wanted to walk with me, you could've said so, kageyama-kun."

"that's not- ugh, i walk this way too."

you smirked. you wondered why it was so easy for you to get him all flustered. you were even curious as to how you had this much confidence to tease your classmate so often. it was just so funny to see his reactions and get worked up over the small things you said. you hoped you weren't making him uncomfortable and continued watching to see how he reacted to the things you said. you also made a mental note of lines not to cross so you wouldn't ruin the new friendship blossoming.

"if it makes you uncomfortable, i can change the honorifics back."

kageyama didn't feel uncomfortable though. he was just confused to have met a girl as confident as you were. even if you were doing itto tease him, it didn't really bother him seeing as you guys would eventually become closer as the year progressed. plus, you were open to getting to know him and help him even if you two had just met.

then, an idea dawned on him. if you were so confident in pushing to be closer with him, he could do the same but by going one step further.

"no, it's fine, l/n..."

kageyama had dropped the honorifics all together. something inside him, though, felt weird. he bit his lip and his eye twitched.

"-san..." he choked out. he slaps himself, making you look over at his flustered expression. you giggle at his attempt to try to tease you, seeing right through him as he added the honorific to end of your name.

"what's wrong, kageyama?"

he stops completely. you had done it so easily and he has barely been able to spit out your last name. he looks over to you dumbfounded as you laugh at his face full of complete shock. _how could she just say my name like that? it's as if we've been friends for a long time, but we just met yesterday? how could she be so bold?_

"well, c'mon, kageyama. it's getting late and i'm hungry."

you continue walking as kageyama slowly takes steps, completely shocked by your teasing. you smile to yourself and you make sure to keep an eye on your seat mate. you wouldn't want him to faint because of you. the last thing you wanted was to drag this boy home and have someone think you killed your new friend.

as he shakes off the dumbfounded look from his face, kageyama catches up to you as you had begun walking a bit faster than he had been. he didn't want to admit it, but he felt defeated by your boldness. the poor boy, though, could not reach your level of confidence just yet. he would have to stick with the formal honorifics for a bit longer.


	2. strawberry skies ❁

you stuck a straw into the carton of your strawberry milk and took a sip. it had quite a bit of sugar in it but not enough to ruin the flavor. you opened your bento box and said a small 'thank you' to yourself before eating. your seat mate, kageyama, had left momentarily so you didn’t see any harm in eating before he came back. as you ate at your desk, you soon saw him slouching down in the chair next to you.

you stopped chewing on your food and you glanced at him. he appeared to be sulking and then his eyes caught the strawberry milk sitting on your desk. he looked at you and then back at the milk. if you two hadn’t been seat mates, then you wouldn't have caught on that he was staring at your strawberry milk.

"kageyama," you started. he snapped out of his thoughts and sat up straight. you smiled to yourself as he woke up from his daydreams about your strawberry milk. the setter looked at you curiously as you set down your chopsticks and picked up the pink carton.

"was the machine out of milk again?"

it wasn't the first time you had caught kageyama sulking over having forgotten his milk carton. usually he packed one with his lunch but he typically enjoyed grabbing a cold one from the vending machines. still focused on the pink carton on your desk, he nodded.

"i checked like 4 of them. all gone."

you watched him roll his eyes at the thought of how many people in the school liked milk just as much as he did. you squinted at him for a moment before you thought of an idea. you held the milk carton before him and his blue eyes finally glanced up to meet yours.

"here. i know you don't usually like flavored milk but..."

kageyama carefully took the pink milk carton out of your hand. he gave you a hesitating look and then finally brought the straw to his lips. you almost thought your seat mate would ascend into heaven when he finally tasted the milk. you had to look away and try to not to laugh as he looked so funny finally having the liquid he must have been craving.

as he continued sipping, you had a sudden thought pop into your head. as kageyama's eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head, you broke him out of his strawberry milk trance.

"y'know, since my lips had already touched the straw, it's almost like we just kissed."

a single drop flowed down the wrong side of his throat and caused him to have a coughing fit. he set down the carton on his desk and felt as though he would never breathe again because of the single drop that barely grazed his trachea. as you pat his back and his face turned red out of lack of oxygen and embarrassment, kageyama glared at you as he regained steady respirations.

you laughed as he took in deep breaths and your fellow classmates turned their heads in concern. if it weren't for nearly choking on his favorite drink, he probably would have killed you then and there if he had enough strength.

"that's not funny," kageyama finally said to you. as you chewed on your food and gave him another smile, the setter only stared at the carton, now unamused and not wanting to touch the pink box at all.

"fine, fine," you started after swallowing your food. "after school, let's go down to the park and let's play a quick game of volleyball. just you and me. whoever wins buys the other one a drink."

kageyama perked up. there's no way he could lose at a simple 1-on-1 game of his favorite sport. he had dedicated all his life to playing volleyball. there was a low chance of him losing, but the chances were never zero. the two of you shook on it and continued on eating while poor tobio gained the strength to finish the strawberry milk.

❁

like i said, the chances are never zero.

you drew lines in the dirt as kageyama bounced the volleyball up and down, up and down. he was overly confident that he could easily gain those 5 points and have you buy him a milk carton.

"go easy on me, kageyama. i only know the basics from gym," you explained to your friend.

"yeah, yeah. you're just scared because you know you're gonna lose."

as you stood back and kageyama got ready to serve the ball to you, you thought of something which made you smile to yourself. you bent your knees and held your arms before you, waiting for kageyama to serve. when he did and you moved your feet to hit it back to him, a comment left your mouth as the ball flew back over to the setter.

"i guess it wouldn't be so bad buying you a drink, tobio-kun."

the ball flew right past him, but still hitting in bounds of the dirt lines you had drawn. you laughed and cheered for yourself as you gained one point. he growled as he realized you distracted him.

"you can't call me that!"

he stomped over to grab his volleyball and rolled it to you. since you had earned a point, it was your ball to serve. this time, kageyama wouldn't let his guard down. as you threw the ball into the air to serve it, you smirked.

"you want me to just call you tobio?"

the ball hit the top of his head and flew out of bounds again. you giggled as you gained another point. 2-0 because he couldn't concentrate. all because you kept teasing him and calling him by his first name.

"that's not fair, l/n-san.”

"fine, fine."

you'd have to think of something else. kageyama yet again rolled the ball to your side. you bounced the ball a few times and then looked up to see kageyama with a scowl on his face. he was clearly ready and concentrating to make a perfect receive. it wasn't too late to catch up. he just needed to focus and ignore whatever you said.

"kags, you said you were good at volleyball."

3-0. you had caught him off guard again. just as you had said that, kageyama began to stand up straight to defend himself. he realized his mistake as you served the ball but he was not in the right position to hit the volleyball well. he tried to get his arms back into position but they were angled badly and ricocheted into the air and out of bounds.

"l/n-san!"

you were too busy bent over in laughter to realize he was getting angrier with your teasing. it wasn't until the volleyball hit your shoes that you saw his angry expression.

"c'mon, kageyama. it's just a quick little game!"

"you're distracting me, idiot!"

you giggled again and took the ball into your hands again.

"fine, fine. i'll be serious."

you hit the ball again, holding back any more comments so you could see if you could gain a point out of pure skill. you were impressed by your seat mate and you were sure it'd be a much more impressive game when you watch play in an official match. you heard him cheer when the ball slipped out of your reach and you failed to make an overhead pass.

3-1. you smiled when you caught him celebrating. you felt a surge of excitement when you caught a quick glimpse of a smile on kageyama's face. usually all the teasing only brought smiles and laughter to yourself. seeing your friend smile for the first time was like unlocking your favorite character in a game.

you threw the ball to him. finally it was kageyama's turn to show you an impressive serve. he knew with his mastered jump serve, he could gain a point. it was too bad he got too cocky and gave you the point instead.

4-1. his excitement faded when you saw him jump in the air and you were scared of getting hit in the face. you moved aside and lucky for you, it went out of bounds. you looked him in utter shock.

"was that out of bounds?"

the setter sulked and nodded. you hummed in delight and picked up the ball. you bounced it a few times and the poor setter shuffled his feet back to the center of his small court. he exhaled rather dramatically, making you laugh and continue bouncing the ball as if it were a basketball not a volleyball.

"cheer up, kags. you can still catch up."

you tossed the ball into the air and as you hit it, another comment left your mouth.

"but of course, i always win."

5-1. kageyama was so determined to not let you win that as he heard you say that, he stopped looking at the ball and looked at you instead. it flew right past him but still hit the inside of his court. you laughed as you had distracted him again and he grumbled about how you teased too much.

"sorry, but i told you i always win. fair and square."

"if anything, i was being more fair than you were."

you giggled at his commentary and watched him pick up the ball sulking. although he really did want the milk, kageyama was hoping to have won this small match between you. after all, volleyball was all the two of you talked about and seeing as you really wanted to watch the team play, he hoped you didn't think he was bad player after today.

the two of you walked to sakanoshita's store. you noted how kageyama sulked as he walked next to you, holding his volleyball close to him for comfort. when he realized you were staring at him, you gave him a warm smile and small pat on the back.

"cheer up, tobio-kun! even if i’m not buying, you're still getting milk aren't you?"

this somehow put the setter in a better mood.

❁

one day, you and your dear friend, tobio, walked down to sakanoshita's store with his fellow teammates. he felt rude leaving you out, so naturally he invited you to come along. poor tobio did not expect you to pull tricks out of your sleeve so soon. especially around his teammates that would surely tease him about it as well.

most of team was gathered outside their coach’s shop and interestingly enough were shouting and captivated by a console. you and kageyama approached the group to find tanaka trying to beat a game he had borrowed from his sister. you didn't know much about the game or even heard of it, but as you watched your upperclassman trying to defeat the level, you couldn't help but laugh at his struggle.

"ugh, no matter how many times i try, i always get killed!"

you munched on your meatbun as shoyo curiously watched behind tanaka's shoulder. you heard the 'game over' once again followed by a groan. you giggled at the poor attempt to defeat the level while nishinoya quickly jumped into the conversation.

"don't worry, ryuu. i'll get revenge for you!"

and just a moment later you were giggling again when poor nishinoya was left stunned and defeated by the level as well. as he sat there in shock, you approached your upperclassman and pat him on the shoulder.

"aw cheer up, yuu-senpai. it couldn't have been that bad."

"so," kageyama speaks up and the group (besides nishinoya, who looks as though he'd been stunned by medusa) look at the setter as he begins to talk.

"if all you have to do is keep slashing it without getting hit, isn't this game... easy?"

tanaka scoffs at his remark.

"easier said than done!"

you watch as a look of determination spreads across the setters face. he looks at you with a smirk on his face and you wonder what the male is up to. he believes the game is easy so why not make it challenge for him? as kageyama takes the console and sits down on the steps, you crouch behind the setter and annoyingly massage his shoulders.

"tobio-kun, if you beat this level, i'll buy you a milk carton."

so, the setter was determined to win this challenge. as you sat behind him and watched, you saw that he quickly realized it was a lot harder than it looked. his determined face soon turned into a scowl. even as the game over popped up and he tried once again, poor tobio couldn't beat the level.

"you asshole! this stupid game isn't worth my time!"

you giggled as you watched the setter nearly break the console with pure grip. ryuu began yelling at the setter to calm down, afraid his anger would get the best of him. as you continued laughing and the 'game over' popped up once again, kageyama slumped over and you gave him a hug from behind. you continued laughing as the poor boy admitted defeat in front of his teammates.

"i guess this is kageyama-kun's true nature."

"shut up or i'll beat your ass, hinata!"

the setters outburst nearly knocked you over as you still held him from behind. you released your arms and fixed your uniform's skirt while asahi helped you up. you thanked the ace but then walked in front of your seat mate and held out your hand.

"c'mon, tobio-kun, i gotta go."

without looking up but following the sound of your voice, the setter took your hand and stood up. he didn't say a word so you said your goodbye’s to his team for him. as the two of you walked away, you could hear asahi screaming for mercy, causing you to laugh once again. you glanced over at your friend who was now in a sour mood. a smile spread across your face as you saw how his mood had changed so quickly. perhaps you could put him in a better mood.

it wasn't until you pulled him towards a vending machine that he realized you two were holding hands. once you let go, kageyama's face began to burn and turn a bright red. he turned away as you looked inside the vending machine to see what you wanted to drink. as tobio calmed down and also looked, he became distracted by his favorite milk brand. as he turned away from you to grab his money and hide his flushed face, you looked beside the vending machine and had a fun idea.

the setter counted enough coins to buy his milk carton and a strawberry soda for you. if you had seen him choose the strawberry drink, you would have been impressed he remembered you liked them. so, as he was distracted by grabbing the two drinks, tobio then realized you had disappeared. he looked around him but you weren't in sight.

"l/n-san?"

he looked beside the vending machine and only found a wall with bushes nicely trimmed. _she wouldn't hide here, right?_ he was wrong. as poor tobio began to turn around and call your name again, you jumped out to scare him. you successfully made him yelp but you soon realized your plan was a bad idea.

tobio, in order to save his milk, dropped your strawberry soda but held the carton close. the carbonated drink reacted to the sudden fall by exploding and flying past both of you. this scared you and caused you to trip as you tried to leave your hiding spot. as you nearly twisted your ankle, tobio noticed you were about to fall. his body moved quicker than he could think and grabbed your arm. soon, the two of you had switched positions and poor kageyama was the one who fell down on his hands and knees.

the milk carton was fine so kageyama didn’t feel as hurt. still, the slight burn from the scratches on his knees and palms of his hand weren't a pleasing feeling either. the setter moved to sit on his butt, his knees feeling the cool air as he examined the marks on his hands. you crouched down with him and you gave him a worried look. he realized you were staring.

"what, idiot! it's your fault i fell!"

you only squinted at him and grabbed a water bottle from your bag. he watched curiously as you unscrewed the cap and made your way closer to him. you grabbed his leg gently and you were about to clean his wounds until you saw him flinch.

"wait, i can do it myself."

"oh, don’t be a baby, tobio-kun," you said in a mocking voice. he growled when he realized you were teasing him again but he supposed he did need to clean up the wounds. the gravel and dirt from the sidewalk could infect even the smallest of scratches.

so, you poured the water and made sure it didn’t drip down to get his socks wet. even as you held his hand and cleaned the small scratches on his palm, tobio couldn't bring himself to look at you. you could see a slight pink tint on his cheeks but you had decided that you were done teasing the poor setter for the day.

once you finished cleaning his scratches, kageyama examined his fingertips and nails to make sure nothing had happened to them. you suppressed a laugh since he was making sure he hadn't hurt his fingers. he took extra care of his nails since, as a setter, everything needed to be perfect to win a match.

when tobio finally stood up with you, you held out the milk carton for him to take. he glanced at it, back at you, and then back at the carton. you gave him a warm smile as he took it but he then realized what had happened. he had dropped your strawberry soda to protect his milk. the pink tint soon turned a darker shade and you giggled when it did. he looked away annoyed as you quickly figured out what was bothering him,

"tobio, you can owe me another time. i'm just glad you're okay."

he looked at you as he realized you had moved on to calling him by his first name. no honorifics, just his name. he wondered how you could be so confident at all times. this time, he didn't stop you from saying it. the setter sighed as he realized he couldn't be as confident yet to call you by your first name. you always reassured him that whatever made him comfortable you were fine with as long as he told you when you were doing too much.

you gave him another gentle smile and began to turn your back to continue walking home. he followed behind and began drinking his milk, still feeling somewhat guilty for dropping your strawberry soda. you noted the look on his face, which seemed deep in thought. you smiled at his odd expression and poked his side. he was glad to have swallowed the milk and wasn't going to have a coughing fit around you like last time. he gave you a menacing glare but poor tobio wasn't prepared for a final round of teasing from you.

"it's just too bad i can't hold your hand now.”


	3. my t-shirt ❁

in class, kageyama was a lot quieter than usual. you knew it was because of the recent loss against aoba johsai in the interhigh tournament. you had been there to watch and it was such a close game. you saw the utter disappointment on the entire team's face. even when the two of you walked home that night, you couldn't bring yourself to say any comforting words to your friend.

as the two of you sat quietly working on algebra, you wrote a note in your journal. as kageyama blankly stared at his worksheet, you pushed your journal across your desk and onto his. you watched as his eyes read the written note before catching his sad, blue eyes looking up at you.

_tobio-kun~ wanna go to sakanoshita's with me :)_

his eyebrows furrowed before clicking his pen and writing underneath your message. the setter then pushed the note back to you so you could read his reply.

_what's the catch?_

of course he would ask that. there was no catch. you hadn't been teasing him since the team's loss, which of course he found odd. while walking home you wouldn't bother him and just talked about other things but even bringing up volleyball would put him in a sour mood. so you would mostly just talk about your own club activities.

he didn't want to take up all your time talking about just volleyball. the reason the two of you had become closer as the school year went on was because he had also asked you to open up about your hobbies. if you could talk to him about his passions, the least he could do was the same with yours.

_no catch. it'll be my treat :)_

so, the two of you walked to sakanoshita's after your club activities. the first thing he grabbed was his milk carton from the refrigeration section. you giggled and asked him if he ever drank anything else. tobio didn't reply, too interested in the variety of chocolate flavors that stood before him. he had no idea the shop carried so many. he settled on milk chocolate and watched as you grabbed a strawberry flavored chocolate bar.

the setter didn't think much of it until he began looking at some potato chips. once again he was captivated by the many flavors the brand had to offer. it set him off when he saw weird flavors that he knew he would hate. so, he settled on regular, salted potato chips but curiously watched as you grabbed flavored potato chips.

he squinted at your pile and then back at his.

"l/n-san, you're grabbing everything i am but in different flavors."

you began to laugh when he finally caught onto what you were doing. you had even grabbed a strawberry milk carton just to see if he would notice your teasing.

"well it wouldn't be any fun if we had the same ones, tobio."

he couldn't argue with that. it had just surprised him that you were grabbing all the same things he had. he wondered if you were just doing it for fun or if you actually liked the snacks you were grabbing. he assumed it was a mix of both and walked away to another aisle. you followed behind him and he thought of a question.

"what kinda ramen do you like?"

you thought for a moment, looking at the many flavors before you. some were popular, cheap brands you kept in your house while others were some you'd never tried. balancing the few snacks you had in one arm, you used your opposite hand to grab one from the shelf.

"this one," you replied, showing him the container. he grabbed the same one and gave you a small smirk, slight confusing you but you were happy to put him in a better mood.

"then i'll have one too."

you paid for the setter’s snacks since you had promised to treat him. thankfully, he was now in a better mood and you were still trying to avoid putting him in a sour mood again. the last thing you wanted was to have a seat mate who would not talk to you for awhile.

so, the two of you kept your snacks in the bags but got the ramen ready to be eaten. kageyama sat with you at a small table by the front of the shop so you guys could enjoy your ramen together. as your ramen cooled down, you watched your seat mate take his favorite drink and pop the straw into the carton. he then pulled his chopsticks apart and got ready to eat his ramen. you were confused since he hadn't let it sit long enough to cook properly.

"tobio, you won't like it like that."

he ignored you and slurped on the noodles anyways. you smiled at him, trying to figure out if the setter was trying to prove something to you. although you were right, he wouldn't back out now. so, as kageyama enjoyed his ramen, you took your chopsticks and stirred your noodles around.

as your friend chewed on his food happily, you cocked your head in amusement. his eyes were closed, enjoying the flavor you had chosen and eagerly filling his tummy with the ramen. he hadn't noticed you staring until he opened his eyes again. he didn't say anything and only waited for you to speak up.

"it's kinda like we're on a date, kags."

and he stopped chewing. he wasn't sure if the heat he felt was from the ramen or he was now feeling embarrassed at the comment you had made. perhaps it was a mix of both but he refused to agree with your statement. with his mouth still full of ramen, tobio spoke up.

"this... is... not a date."

your eyes closed from smiling so wide. he could tell you were amused by his rejection, but wouldn't give up just yet.

"it's just the two of us. it's a date."

"it's not a date."

"it is."

"it's not."

"it's not," you tricked him.

"it is- hold on," kageyama paused. you began to laugh as he slumped over in humiliation. he hid his face away from you as you continued laughing at how easily you had tricked your friend. he only growled and clenched his chopsticks in his fist.

"well, what would you tell someone that asked what this is."

"i would tell them-"

the shop's door slid open and the two of you looked over as the bell rang above the customer's head. kageyama watched as his teammates, tsukishima and yamaguchi, walked inside. all four of you stared at each other as the two boys walked past and you could hear a snicker from tsukishima.

you looked back over at your friend who was frozen in his seat. you even waved your hand in front of his face but the poor setter didn't blink. you could hear tsukishima and yamaguchi murmuring from down the isle. surely they wouldn't say anything to you and kageyama. you wouldn't let them. especially since you had brought him to sakanoshita's to put him in a better mood. you would not let kei ruin that for either of you.

you kept trying to shake kageyama back into reality, his mouth slightly open in shock. you tried to shut it but it was almost as if his jaw had locked as well. you weren't quite sure what to do now.

you watched tsukishima and yamaguchi pay for their things and head for the door. the smaller boy only hid his smile, laughing at something his best friend had told him. you glared at the two of them and tsukishima only gave you a small courtesy.

"your majesty and his queen."

the two boys walked out and you nearly sat there in shock as kageyama did. you cheeks slightly burned, feeling defeated by the small commentary from tsukishima. you could hear small noises escape from kageyama as he still sat there in disbelief.

"tobio?"

his eye twitched. he then groaned and hid his entire face in his hands. you giggled at him and he peaked at you from behind his hands. you knew tsukishima could be mean, especially to kageyama when it came to hanging out around you. you weren't sure why he talked so much when you could easily tease the middle blocker about him and yamaguchi. you'd have to think of a good plan to get kei back.

"whatever. tsukishima would think we're dating even if i said we're not."

"so this is a date?"

"it's not!"

❁

"i still can't believe you snuck into shiratorizawa, kags!"

"can you stop with that already!"

nishinoya had eaten lunch with you to catch up since junior high. you laughed all throughout lunch as he told you about how your two first year friends had snuck into shiratorizawa academy. kageyama kept trying to tell you that ushijima wakatoshi, the super ace of miyagi, had let them into the school. you believed him, but found it much more amusing to say he "snuck" in.

"you're such a badass, tobio. you gotta let me meet ushiwaka, too!"

he growled and mumbled something through his teeth, causing you to laugh. you started to pack up your pencils and highlighters while the rest of your classmates walked out of your class. you only looked up when you heard a sigh escape your seat mate’s mouth.

"what's up, kags?"

as he looked over his english notebook, the setter rolled his eyes upon remembering practice from the day before.

"we're going to a training camp in tokyo... but only if we can pass our finals."

you cocked your head in confusion. then, you realized that your seat mate wasn't all too good of a student. he spent more time focused on volleyball and asking you to spare your notes. you let him copy your notes but it came with a bit of teasing and competitions. still, he knew it wasn't enough to help him pass this semester.

"well we're in the same class after all. i can help you study."

he cheered up at the sound of your offer but then squinted at you. you knew he was going to ask if there was something you wanted in return, so you stopped him before he could.

"no catch, tobio. i know you really want to win the tournament this year so... i'll help. plus, you did give me some good ideas for [club name] so the least i can do is help you study."

you gave him a warm smile and your stomach filled up with butterflies when you saw his lip slightly curl up as well. you were so used to a frown on his face that the times you saw kageyama tobio smile, you couldn't help but jump around with excitement. in your head of course.

as he packed up his final items into his bag, the setter nods.

"fine. you can text me the times we can study or whenever you're available. i gotta go to practice but i'll see you after."

you nodded warmly as well. with your agreement, kageyama took his bag and left. you gathered your things as well and fixed both of your chairs. you walked out of the class and spotted a pair of blue eyes behind framed glasses. a small smile appeared on your face as you approached the girl before you.

"shimizu-san!"

"y/n, we've talked a lot before. i said you could call me kiyoko."

the girl before you held a paper in her hands. you glanced at it but then smiled again at her.

"right, kiyoko. what's up?"

karasuno's manager had been looking for her replacement. she knew her time at karasuno was coming to an end and putting off finding a new manager was something she had been doing all year. now, it was time that she find someone to train as the team prepared for the tournament again.

you had recently dismissed yourself from your own club activities. it wasn't that you had fallen out with any of the members or you were not uninterested in your favorite hobby. kiyoko was in need of a new manager and when you saw the opportunity, you were quick to grab it. you were already so close to karasuno's setter and the rest of the team, you felt it was your duty to help their manager out. plus, getting to hang out a little more with kageyama didn't seem too awful.

"well," the third year began. "since you're interested and i think you'd be perfect as the next manager, you should come to practice starting this week. that way you can get the hang of everything and see if this is something you really want to do."

you hoped that everything would work out, seeing as volleyball had pretty much taken up most of your time nowadays. you became interested while watching karasuno's matches and other games you could find on tv. you knew a lot of the basics but you knew there would be a lot more to do when it came to being the team's manager.

you walked with kiyoko to the gym. since she had offered the trial membership to see how you liked being with the team, you would first have to introduce yourself. not that they didn't know who you were. it was just a polite thing to do. yet you hid behind kiyoko as she called out to team, who were already beginning their warmups.

"excuse me. do you guys have a moment."

even if you had hung out with the team before, the attention on you was somewhat nerve-wrecking. you saw the team stop what they were doing and kiyoko moved aside. you froze in your tracks and felt everyone's eyes on you. you saw shoyo smile but you were much more worried when you saw your seat mate’s face. he was in utter disbelief.

"ah! y/n-chan!"

you watched nishinoya and tanaka run up to the two of you and yell a "what's up!" you felt your face burn and you felt shy even in front of your upperclassman who you had lunch with earlier that day. you looked over to see kiyoko give you a warm smile before talking to the team once again.

"um, she's joining the club on a trial basis as the new manager. i'm sure you all know her well but..."

she gave you a reassuring look and allowed you to introduce yourself. although you were always faking your confidence, before the group of boys it was suddenly hard to do. especially when a special pair of blue eyes watched your every move with confusion. you wondered if he thought you were pranking him or actually interested in joining the volleyball club.

"i-i'm l/n y/n."

"of course we know who you are! welcome, y/n-chan!"

you were happy to have gotten to know the members while hanging out with kageyama, but you were still unsure about the whole situation. you were really hoping your seat mate wouldn't get the wrong idea. you truly wanted to be closer with him and learn more about his passion.

the team surrounded you and gave you a warm greeting. kageyama still would not say much but still gave you a respectful bow alongside the rest of his team. kiyoko soon spoke up again.

"she'll be here this week as a trial, maybe just to see if she's really interested in the club and i can finish up the paperwork with the club committee. today's just for introduction."

so, as you finished your greetings to the team, you walked out of the gym and heard kiyoko continue talking to the rest of your team. when the breeze hit your face, you realized you were burning up. you held onto the railing and collected your nerves. you wondered why you felt so nervous around them when you had hung out plenty of times around the team.

your head turned when you heard the gym door slide open. kageyama walked over to you and you tried reading his face. he didn't look upset or angry at you. he will admit that he was surprised when he heard kiyoko say you would be in the gym with the team throughout this week. what happened with your own club activities?

"tobio..."

he stood next to you but he didn't say anything. he was certainly confused but now he didn't think you were pranking him. the whole team was so surprised to see you and hear the news of how shimizu had been looking for a new manager. kageyama just couldn't wrap his head around that fact that you wanted to be their manager.

you gave him a smile and wondered what he was thinking about. he couldn't quite bring himself to speak up first, so as per usual, you had to start the conversation for him.

"why do you look so surprised?"

his blue eyes wandered around for a moment and you saw him swallow nervously. he also held onto the railing and finally spoke up.

"well, what happened with [club name]?"

you shrugged and looked past the courtyard. kageyama admired the way the sun shined down on your face, but tried not to think too much about it. he focused on trying to get answers and why you suddenly appeared in the gym with surprising news.

"i made friends and it was fun but... i can do all of that at home. i wanted to do something new."

"i had no idea."

the setter finally looked away and now it was your chance to admire his features. everything about him in the summer lighting was so stunning. his white tee fit his body perfectly and you couldn't help but stare at his figure. he took good care of himself and you knew he was always going out for jogs. he had even asked you to go with him once but it was 4:30 in the morning. there was no way you'd go out that early.

you cocked your head and continued staring. kageyama looked at you again and you could see a pink tint appear on his nose as you admired his feature. he only rolled his eyes and began to think back on all the times you had teased him since you two met.

"l/n-san, if this is a prank-"

"it's not, tobio. i-" you sighed and you thought of a good way to explain yourself. he patiently waited as you stood there for a moment to collect your thoughts together.

"i really do want to try something new. i've gone to all your games when i can and i think you guys are incredible. nishinoya-san has talked about what's happened in the past years and i think you've really helped the team improve."

with the added praise, the pink tint spread across tobio's face. you gave him a warm smile, trying to convince him that you were genuinely speaking to him. after all the times you had teased him, you wouldn't be surprised if he still didn't believe you once you were finished talking.

"even if you guys took that heavy loss against seijoh... karasuno has an amazing team. you guys are funny, but hardworking. i know that if you guys keep working, i can find a way to continue supporting a team with a lot of potential."

the setter didn't know how to respond. he bit the inside of his cheek when he finally realized you were being sincere. his heart warmed at the sound of your praise and wanting to be more involved with karasuno's team. something about seeing you more often also made him feel a bit happier than usual. if there was anyone in this world that could cheer him up, it was you.

"plus, we would get to hang out more. unless you secretly hate me and don't want me to hang around then... i won't join."

"no-" he choked out. the setter stood up straight now and as he stared down into your eyes, you could see the stars in his.

"i'm glad you want to join. that way... we can be closer."

the pink on his face slowly turned red and you giggled at his reaction. he rolled his eyes, prepared to take any teasing you were about to do. instead, you poked his side and he jumped in surprise. you both looked at each other again and he wondered what you were thinking of.

"can i give you a hug, tobio?"

both of you felt your heart race as you asked. you wanted to make sure he didn't still feel unsure about the situation, so you suggested this hug as a peace offering. kageyama only blinked before shaking off the odd feelings erupting inside him. he nodded and watched as you came closer to him.

you wrapped your arms around his torso and pulled him gently. you face rested on him and you felt the warmth of his body on your cheek. his arms wrapped around you as well, his eyes shot wide open while yours were closed. the two of your stood there and had no idea how much time had passed by. the two of you didn't even realize the other team members were watching from the door and tsukishima just had to make another comment.

"i told y'all they were together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what club would y’all be in :>  
> i always join the book club but never finish the book we’re reading.... :0  
> also, sorry if you love yachi... i do too but... you’re the new manager now ;)


	4. my shadow ❁

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shorter chapter ~ i’m not sure if anyone needs a warning but kags does talk about his past (grandfather’s death, king of court shtuff) with reader-chan <3

you knew when and when not to bother kageyama tobio. today was definitely not the day to mess with him. you quickly realized this when you had made a comment after completely reading his emotions wrong.

as you sat highlighting terms in your notebook, the chair beside you scraped against the floor and made you look over at your seat mate. his expression was blank and he didn't say a word. normally, when he didn't greet you, tobio was in a bad mood. you smiled to yourself and cocked your head to get a better look at your friend.

"tobio~ did shoyo-kun knock you over with a volleyball this morning?"

"don't be so immature, l/n-san. not everything is about hinata and i."

your mouth stayed slightly opened and your eyes widened just a bit. he usually didn't respond right away and hearing him call you immature was new. you straightened you back and stayed quiet. you turned your body to face forward, clearly misreading kageyama and not wanting to bother him while he was not in a good mood.

still, you couldn't help but continue glancing over at your friend. you were worried about him and you wondered if something bad had happened. you always found some way to cheer him up. he usually told you what was on his mind and you helped him work out any situation he was in. today, you realized, he was not in any mood to discuss what was wrong.

you had to admit that your seat mate calling you immature made you feel a bit embarrassed. perhaps he didn't mean it but it still hurt to hear. you began to overthink all the teasing you had done and began to wonder if you had finally crossed the line. you wondered what line it was that had set him off but you wouldn't push him for an answer. even when he turned the textbook's page early and you hadn't quite finished writing, you couldn't bring yourself to say anything to kageyama.

as you wrote down the assigned terms for the chapter your class was studying, you saw a piece of paper appear in front of you. you glanced over a kageyama, who was slowly writing down his terms as well but didn't seem interested in the lesson at all. you set your pen down and opened the paper slowly, careful not to bring any attention to yourself.

_i'm sorry for saying that, l/n-san. we can talk later but not now._

you took your pen and wrote a response.

_it's okay :) you don't have to explain yourself. i understand._

you saw a soft smile appear on his face. see, you did cheer him up more than you teased. you were glad to see it too. he wrote another thing on the paper before going back to catching up on his assignment. a smile now appeared on your face.

_we're friends. i don't mind telling you. i just need some space until then._

so, you gave him the space he needed. he sat by himself not really eating but you didn't want to push it on him. instead, you sat outside with some of the volleyball members and they questioned you about kageyama. the only thing you told them was he wasn't feeling well and wanted to sit inside.

as the two of you sat in class, you would occasionally steal glances at tobio and noticed he didn't appear mad or frustrated about anything. instead, he would stare at his papers blankly before writing down a few words and then repeating the process all over again. you would definitely have to help him catch up when he was in a better mood but you didn't nag him as he sat there with an expressionless look.

when your final class was over, you patiently waited for him to gather up his things and the two of you walked to the shoe lockers. after changing into your normal shoes, you curiously wondered why kageyama didn't walk to the gym today.

"don't you have practice, tobio?"

he shook his head and you continued following him. the setter shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced over at you. you still tried to read his expression but you did not have any ideas as to why kageyama looked so down.

"i talked to the captain last week. i knew i would need today off so i asked."

you wondered what he meant by this. what could he possibly be doing today?

the two of you walked side by side and passed by the entrance of what looked to be like a shrine. you had never seen it before, but curiously watched kageyama turn and leave you behind. you retraced your steps and trailed behind the volleyball player. he continued walking down the trail until you two reached the back of the location where there was bench to overlook a small forest. kageyama sat down and let out a long, exasperated sigh. still, you didn't ask him any questions. you patiently waited for him to be ready to speak to you first.

and after a few minutes of silence, he spoke.

"it's my grandfather's death anniversary."

you looked at him. he stared blankly at the trees in front of him and his hands rested carefully in his lap. you looked away from him and still remained quiet. you wanted him to finish before you could think of something to say to comfort him.

"he's the reason why i love volleyball, y'know? he taught my sister and i to play. that's all we did and i don’t think i’ve ever gotten bored playing it. not once."

"he used to tell me that for a kid my age, i was too good. he said any team i was on would be lucky to have me. i didn't believe him and even now i don't think it's true."

"my grandpa helped me get into kitagawa first. that’s where i met oikawa-san and i really admired him. i used to always ask him for advice or to help me with certain things. he never would and... i never knew why. i didn’t think much of it and even now that we’re rivals, i'm still grateful to have had him as my upperclassman."

"i don't know if anyone from the team has told you but... in junior high they started calling me the king of the court. my grandfather had died and... i couldn't seem to get anything under control. when something would go wrong at practice, i would get frustrated and scold my teammates. even something small would tick me off."

"being the setter of the team meant having control of everything and everyone. it was the only thing i could control since everything else seemed to be so... imperfect and impossible."

"l/n-san..."

you looked over at your friend and you could see a softer look in his eyes. his mouth was still in a frown but you could tell he was much more relaxed than he had been all day. maybe this was all he needed and couldn't vent his frustration to you until now. you felt sad that he had bottled all of this up for the entire day.

"i'm really grateful we're friends."

this made you sit up tall. you wondered what made him say such a thing. if you had known he needed to vent all day, you would have convinced him to skip classes and come straight here. you didn't say anything though as you watched his mouth curl up into a smile, right in view for you to see.

"even with all your teasing since the day we met, i'm happy you're my friend. even if i can't control everything happening and as much as i wish i could perfect everything, i'm glad you can show me the greater things in life."

a lump formed in your throat and you found your arms wrapping around kageyama's shoulders, completely taking him by surprise. he heard a sniffle come from you and he wondered if he had said something wrong or spoken too much. he simply placed you arms around your torso and hugged you back, feeling just a hint of awkwardness as he did.

"i-i'm so happy _*sniff*_ we're friends, t-too."

he let out a small laugh and you felt as if your whole world had been turned upside down. had you just heard kageyama tobio laugh for the first time? yes, you heard _and_ read that correctly. he laughed at your sudden outburst.

"i'm not very good at this friendship and emotional stuff... but around you i can be myself."

"s-shut up, tobio! i'm gonna cry!"

"you already are, idiot."

"don't call me an idiot! i'm your _best_ friend!"

he sighs and let's out another small laugh as you squeeze him tighter. as he took in your scent and held you close to him, tobio smiled into your shoulder.

"then don't cry, best friend."


	5. each other’s anchor ❁

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *haikyuu s2 ep. 4-5 exists*  
> me: ctrl-c, ctrl-v  
> also me: add a little bit of spice ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one’s a little longer than usual but probs my favorite... enjoy :>

you, shoyo, and tobio sat together at a wooden table in the school's library. the school provided after-school tutoring and allowed any hard-working students to stay late. so, captain sawamura had started cutting practice short to encourage the entire team to study harder for their upcoming final exams. everyone was so excited to travel and stay in tokyo for two weeks. first, karasuno's crows had to pass their finals.

but i'm sure we all know how that went.

you sat there quizzing the boys over biology terms. you kept giggling and having to shush poor shoyo since he tended to start throwing out random words that weren't even close to the definition you had told them. tobio, on the other hand, would just sit there and squint at you. in his head, he knew exactly what you were talking about, but couldn't spit out any specific term.

"cellulose!"

"sho, we're talking about human anatomy not plants now."

the ginger slumped and frowned at your response. he knew he was close to the word you had defined but he couldn't think of it. his teammate just stayed quiet, making you cover up your smile as you could tell the two were struggling. kageyama was too afraid to say any word, embarrassed he would get it wrong. he knew he would get it wrong, but seeing your face as he said the wrong word would just ruin his mood.

"c'mon it starts with a c... ends with erebellum...."

and then you couldn't help but laugh when the two boys still stared at you dumbfounded. you wheezed and held your stomach as you slapped the notecards down. they felt slightly embarrassed and confused as to why you were laughing.

"guys! cerebellum? i gave you the answer!"

the two boys' mouths turned into an "o" shape and let out exactly that sound. no wonder the captain had started cutting practice short. you felt bad for the two, especially for kageyama since you tended to bother him too much in class. you wondered if you had become a larger distraction but then curiously thought how you were doing better in class than both of them combined. you then thought back on the times you had to walk home since kageyama spent nearly all evening in the gym. even now as their manager, you had to beg the setter to put away the volleyballs and take a break once in awhile.

you weren't very convincing and tobio was pretty stubborn.

you sighed, but gave the two boys a reassuring smile. they were worried they wouldn't pass their exams and you promised to help them in any way you could. since the three of you had already spent two hours switching from lesson to lesson, you decided the volleyball players needed a break.

as they argued about biology terms, you grabbed your laptop from your bag to show them something you had been working on. you looked through the miscellaneous files until you found what you wanted to show them. you smiled to yourself before turning the screen.

"look! remember when i came in with the camera and asked if i could take pictures of you two? this is what i was making.”

hinata and kageyama stopped arguing about bone marrow and admired the photograph you had been editing the past few days. you had been talking to the coach and takeda about fundings for the trip. you wanted to help any way you could and realized that if miyagi saw karasuno's talent, they would support the team. so, you had pulled out your magical editing skills and used a photo of shoyo's incredible spike to gather donations.

"takeda-sensei is gonna help me get these posters printed and i've been looking around for where i can put them up. i wanted to show you guys first."

you could tell they were impressed with your skills and were happy that you were supporting their team. you really wanted to prove you could be a great manager. with this poster, you hoped that it could bring more attention to the crows and allow more people to see the incredible talent the team withheld.

"that's so-"

and as shoyo pulled the computer closer to him, stars shining brightly in his eyes, he finally saw the photograph and the flaw you had purposely added.

you bit your lip, trying your best to force your lips into a frown. as kageyama and hinata both got a better look at the poster, you watched as their face contorted into shock and confusion.

"WHAT THE-"

you quickly leaped across the table and clamped both of their mouths shut. the three of you would be kicked out of the library for good if the staff heard the words that escaped their mouths. the two volleyball players stared at you with wide eyes and you finally relaxed back into your chair. you hid your face and tried your best to silently laugh. as you clenched your hand into a fist, you heard a growl come out of your best friend.

"you fucking idiot! why would you put my fucking face on this orange dumbass?"

a small squeal escaped past your lips. you clamped your mouth and tears started to form in your eyes. this was not the official poster you had sent takeda. you made another version of the photograph, but cut out shoyo's face and replaced it with your favorite setter's face. their reactions only made it harder for you to suppress your laughter.

you imagined a raging fire around kageyama's aura as he restrained himself from trying to beat you in the school library. meanwhile, a cloud full of rain poured onto shoyo's world as he saw his teammate's face on his body. the poor ginger mumbled to himself which made kageyama grab him by the collar and start whisper-yelling at him.

it took you a good minute to stop laughing. even as you took the computer back and got a good look at the photo, you had to slap your mouth shut and swallow any giggle from escaping. you looked for the real poster and turned your screen back around. it seem to put shoyo in a better mood, but poor kageyama would never forgive you for this one. you profusely apologized to him through giggles. even after promising to buy him a whole box of milk cartons, he wouldn't look at you as the two of you walked home.

❁

"y/n-chan! this is how awesome-"

"your senpais are!"

you watched as nishinoya and tanaka both boasted about passing their final exams to you. you giggled as they proudly showed off their 45 and 42. you gave both of your upperclassman pats on the backs since you knew they had done their best to pass. you looked over at the vice-captain, who was clearly unimpressed.

"you both barely got over 40 points," sugawara said bluntly. his comment made you smile but you watched ryu and the libero frown. you gave nishinoya another rub on the back before sugawara spoke up again. you saw he was looking over at tsukishima who held a paper in his hand.

"ah... hinata, you failed english? but you were pretty confident in passing."

you looked down at your two friends, who were sitting in silence with their heads down. both sat at a small table in the club room, deeply disappointed that they had failed their exams. you walked over to sit in front of the two first years. neither looked up. they stared blankly at the table before them, clearly in shock that they would not be able to go to the practice match in tokyo.

"apparently," the middle blocker started. "at the last minute, he figured out he had filled in all his answers off by one."

"ah, ono-sensei would never let that slide."

you glanced from the teammates that were reviewing the exams to your two friends that sat in front of you. you wondered what the two were thinking of as the team looked over their exams. you then looked back up as the captain looked over your kageyama’s exam. sadly, your desks had been rearranged to ensure no cheating was involved. this meant you and kageyama had been seated farther apart than usual.

"kageyama failed modern literature," daichi stated as you looked sympathetically at your seat mate. you had struggled a bit with the exam yourself but managed to get above an 80 on your test. ennoshita then began to speak up as well.

“the first years always get a lot of comprehension questions. especially for the first semester exams, but he focused on memorization instead.”

you felt bad as you had been studying literature with him the past few weeks as well. you thought he had been studying all the reviews your sensei had given, but much to your dismay, he had been focused on a completely different assignment.

as you reached over to give a pat on kageyama’s shoulder, he began to lift his head. you expected a scowl on his face as usual, but you felt odd when a swarm of butterflies erupted in your stomach. he looked at you with puppy eyes. you froze, your hand nearly squeezing the setter’s shoulder. from the look in his eyes, you could tell he was disappointed and he almost felt as if he had wasted all your time studying.

“tobio~ cheer up! let’s learn morse code this summer so i can help you cheat!”

your comment only earned you a glare and scold from the captain. before you could apologize, both of the first years before you began to speak up.

“how are we going to get to tokyo now?”

“i’ll let you borrow natsu’s bike.”

“oh shit. they really are planning to go,” you heard sugawara say to himself. you laughed as you imagined kageyama riding a tiny bike meant for shoyo’s little sister. with his long legs, it’d probably take the entire day before the two arrived to tokyo.

“c’mon you two,” tanake spoke up. the team and the sulking boys looked at the wing spiker as he puffed his chest out.

“as your senpai, i have a plan to help out!”

❁

you never expected the two to work something out and actually pass their supplementary exams.

yet, there they were being blocked successfully by nekoma high’s tallest players. you could tell that the two were getting frustrated. knowing shoyo, though, he would not give up without a fight. so, you sat watching intently, making sure to take notes with kiyoko. you tried to read both kageyama and shoyo’s behavior. you could tell the ginger wasn’t listening to much of what the setter told him. he was too lost in his own thoughts and ideas.

you watched the ball fly up into the air as karasuno’s ace jumped with full power. the entire team freezes in their tracks and you cover your mouth as you watch shoyo jump up for the ball as well. you hand clenches the bench and your notebook as the small boy and ace collide. you stand up as a result of pure shock flooding your veins. you only felt reassurance when kiyoko softly takes ahold of your hand.

you sit back down with a sigh of relief as shoyo quickly regains his strength to sit back up. you hear him apologizing to asahi repeatedly but you’re sure the ace is about to pass out. he must have thought he was going to kill the poor ginger from the harsh collision. you feel bad for your friend when coach ukai begins to scold the boy for bumping into the ace for trying to get the ball when it wasn’t meant for him.

your mind starts to race as you try to examine hinata, trying to figure out what was going through his brain. was he being careless or was he trying something new? everything still felt brand new to you so trying to figure out what shoyo was thinking was nearly impossible. you hoped he would pay attention from now on after his mistake.

you soon watched hinata approach your best friend. you can’t make out what the smaller boy says, but from the look on the setter’s face, you could tell tobio was unimpressed. you watch a look of rejection form on shoyo’s face, but you still wonder what’s happening. their discussion ended quickly as the whistle blows for the next serve. shoyo’s fists clenched and you feel a sense of uncertainty about the next few moments.

“they’re all on edge,” kiyoko comments.

you nod and watch as the game finishes between nekoma and karasuno. _so, i’m not imagining things_ , you think as nekoma scores the last point. you stand up with kiyoko to listen to takeda’s speech to the team. you’re deep in thought with the rest of the team as you try to figure out what’s happening between your two friends. you wonder if you should even get involved, but seeing as your training to be their new manager, you should know what’s going on with your team. all good and bad things.

you go to walk out of the gym, but as you reach the door, coach stops you. he glances at you and puts a finger up to his mouth to be quiet. you stop and you realize he’s listening in on the conversation happening outside.

“i want to fight for myself in the air, down to the very last moment.”

you recognize this to be shoyo’s voice. you feel odd listening to a conversation you weren’t invited to, but you’re too frozen in your tracks to move. the cool air blows onto your face but you’re sure the shiver running down your spine is not because of the weather.

“with the seijoh match,” you hear your best friend start. “i understood, just a little bit, how the setter draws out 100% of the spiker’s talents. the quick attack is your ultimate weapon. even just a small mistake determines whether or not we’ll score the next point. your opinion is not needed for the quick attack.”

coach pushes you aside as you hear footsteps. the two of you hide while kageyama walks right past, unaware the two of you were listening. you look at coach ukai and he can read your face like an open book. when kageyama is out of reach, he speaks up.

“i’m sure you don’t understand much of what’s happening, but kageyama’s right. the fast attack doesn’t need any improvement.”

you only nod and thank him for trying his best to explain the situation. you had been writing down notes and talking with kiyoko on how the team should be focusing on other attacks. perfecting something that might not even work out in the end may not serve to benefit anyone on the team.

coach walks out to continue talking to sugawara and hinata. meanwhile, you go back to the gym and stand with kiyoko. the two of your review notes and discuss on the game that had finished just a few moments ago. she explains some tactical terms you’re still doing your best to understand. although you do your best to pay attention, you still can’t wrap your mind around the tension between kageyama and hinata.

❁

“tobio, you said we were going home when we got back!”

you watch as hinata sets up the net in the gym and kageyama walks over the him with the cart of volleyballs. you roll your eyes knowing the two will want to stay for awhile even though your best friend had promised you he would walk you home. it had been a long day and the two still had the energy to keep practicing once the team got back to miyagi. then again, you weren’t really surprised and you wondered what the two were up to.

“y/n-chan! can you stay a bit? please?”

you frown at hinata’s request and stick your tongue out at him. he lets out a small laugh but you can tell his mind is still focused on earlier that day. maybe he wanted to work on improving the quick attack like he said.

“fine. you owe me a strawberry soda, sunshine.”

you and tobio both smile as you tease hinata, his cheeks turning red as he hears you call him by a new nickname. you then look at the setter and roll your eyes at him as well.

“you owe me one too.”

he sighs at your request. _as long as she helps_ , he thinks.

so, now you repeatedly send the ball towards kageyama, watching him set the ball to hinata but his hand misses it every time. you’re sure you’ve heard shoyo say ‘one more time’ a hundred time. kageyama doesn’t bother looking at you as you send the ball his way. instead, he was focusing all his attention sending it hinata’s way. you sigh, impatient that you had to be the one in the middle of their messy practice.

“tobio~ i think my arms are gonna fall off,” you whine as you throw another ball his way and you hear a yell escape hinata as he misses again. he completely ignores you and the setter turns to talk with shoyo.

“instead of trying to improve something we might not be able to do, we should be focusing on blocking, receiving, serving. don’t you think for a second this is a waste of our time?”

you had to agree with kageyama, but part of you thinks that if they wanted to improve the quick attack, it wouldn’t happen in a single day. they should be focusing on other defensive skills, but instead shoyo’s been deep in thought about their killer move. you were stuck in the middle of their dilemma. your best friend was only stating the truth. the team should be focused on working on small details that would boost their defense. meanwhile, shoyo was caught up in trying something new and kept wanting to improve their fast attack. you wanted him to evolve into a better player but it would take time for that to happen.

“but if the quick attack doesn’t work out... then why do i have any reason to be standing on the court!”

“that’s why i’m telling you to stop trying to improve or fix the quick attack. if you just focus and let me set it your way, then i’ll make sure it’s a toss that won’t get blocked!”

“but how does that make me a better player?”

you found yourself holding the next volleyball with shaking hands. you wanted to butt in and put a stop to their argument but you couldn’t find the words to put an end to it. you felt yourself freeze when kageyama grabbed shoyo by the collar. you gulped as you saw the anger build up between the two.

“the tournament is right around the corner and you want to fix something we might not be able to do now? do you want a **perfected** fast attack or a completely _useless_ fast attack?”

“kageyama-san! don’t do that!”

“i want a strength of my own! let me fight on my own!”

“stop being selfish! this isn’t just your fight and because of you, the team will end up falling apart!”

you gasped as the two continued fighting but it became more physical. you watched your friend toss hinata to the ground and you covered your mouth in shock.

“g-guys, wait-“

shoyo stayed on the ground, fuming with anger as kageyama turned his back on him. you could now see the anger spread across the setter’s face and he refused to acknowledge anything you told the two players. you watched the setter sigh angrily before he spoke up again.

“things haven’t changed. i’ll toss to whoever i need to to win the match.”

with this, you knew kageyama had crossed the line. you heard a cry of anger escape the smaller boy as he got up and tackled the setter with pure rage. this only made you panic more as you watched kageyama put up a fight with hinata to make sure the smaller boy didn’t knock him down.

“let go of me, dumbass!”

“i won’t let go until you toss to me again!”

this infuriated the setter. you gasped again and finally gained the strength to move when kageyama used all his force to pull hinata off of him. he threw him back down onto the floor and you went running to grab kageyama by the shirt.

“tobio! don’t-“

and you felt his elbow connect to your cheek. you stepped back in utter shock, watching the two scramble and kageyama completely disregarded the fact that he had just hit you. the tears welled up in your eyes as the two yelled swears at each other and you held your face in pain. you knew it was a complete accident, but seeing him in such distressed and furious state scared you. you never thought he would stoop so low as to get physical.

“senpai!”

you ran out of the gym, tears flowing down your face as you found your upperclassman starting to walk home.tanaka turned around to see you completely stressed out and tugging on his shirt. his eyes widened as he saw you and your hand holding your face.

“ryu-senpai, p-please... they started fighting b-because hinata’s mad! y-you have to help me!”

he didn’t understand anything that came out of your mouth, but seeing you tugging him towards the gym gave him some sense of what was happening. tanaka ran past you but you followed behind him to make sure he understood where you wanted him to go. the two of you ran inside and you felt your heart break as you saw your two friends fighting once again.

how could they betray each other’s trust in a single day?

❁

you rubbed your jaw and shoyo glanced over at you. it was late and you just wanted to go home. if you would have known the night would end like this, you would have convinced the two boys a little harder to leave. as shoyo rolled his bike next to him and walked you home, he sighed. you looked over at him but you couldn’t think of a single word to describe the way he may be feeling.

“u-uh, shoyo-kun. i know you live in the other direction, so you don’t have to walk me all the way.”

you fake a smile, but the ginger stops completely. he turns and you can tell his smile is fake as well. your heart breaks knowing that the happiest person you knew was feeling anything but happy.

“i’m sorry, y/n-chan.”

you smile again as you can tell he’s doing his best to apolgize for the childish behavior you had witnessed.

“don’t worry, sho. i’m totally fine, but...”

you look down at the ground and wondered what to say now. you still don’t understand much of what’s happening and why shoyo’s so caught up in trying to improve the fast attack. part of you wants to agree with kageyama, but you needed to see both sides of the story.

shoyo cocks his head down to make you look at him. his smile, now genuine, makes you look up in surprise.

“in my first and last tournament in my junior high, kageyama’s team totally wrecked mine. after that, i told myself that i would get revenge in high school. that... didn’t really work out since now we’re on the same team. we still don’t get along since we have hard time seeing eye to eye... but in games, i know exactly what he’s thinking. for the first time, i thought i had a friend instead of just a partner.”

your heart warmed at the sound of his last sentence. every atom making up your existence pulled you closer to the ginger and you caught him by surprise as you wrapped your arms around him. he froze as he heard you sniffle and you held him tight. he took one hand off the steering wheel of his bike and hugged you back.as you let go and wiped away a few tears, you gave him a soft smile.

“good night, sunshine.”

and shoyo blushed and grinned like crazy, completely in a better mood as he biked home.

❁

_vrr vrr_

**incoming call**

great... someone was interrupting your favorite show. then, you saw it was your best friend calling. you had tried to distract yourself from what had happened in the gym just a while ago, but seeing his name pop up on your screen made all of the memories come rushing in again. you sighed and answered.

“tobio?”

he sighed, nearly hanging up at the sound of your voice. he didn’t know where to begin. what to say? how would he apologize? kageyama realized he had hit you on his way home and wondered if you hated him. you had walked home with shoyo instead of him. for the first time since you two had met, he walked home alone. as always, he couldn’t bring himself to speak first. so you did instead.

“are you- how are you?”

kageyama stared up at the ceiling. he wasn’t sure how to put how he was feeling. you knew all too well he wasn’t great at explaining his emotions. he usually talked about what had happened to put him in such a bad mood. this time... you knew what had happened. so how could he put into words the way he was feeling about today?

“i- i don’t know.”

“that’s okay. i don’t either...”

you wanted to tell him everything would be alright, but you couldn’t make empty promises that may or may not work out. he’d have to figure it all out with shoyo.

“l/n-san...”

you could tell he was disappointed. you hoped he wasn’t putting himself down or overthinking the situation. you knew he was a perfectionist and wanted everything to go his way, but in this situation he would have to come to an agreement. he knew it too. you didn’t reply and just waited for him to be ready to speak again.

“i’m sorry, y/n.”

the setter clamped his hand over his mouth and he felt a lump in his throat. his eyes widened as he felt emotions wash over him like a violent crash of a wave. he felt horrible for putting you in middle of his problems. if only he had walked you home instead of agreeing to buy you a soda to stay a little longer. if only he had stopped to realize you were behind him before elbowing you in the face. if only-

“tobio?”

“i’m sorry, y/n.”

and he hung up. kageyama clenched his phone in his hand and did his best not to start sobbing over something so stupid. _why can’t hinata just use his stupid brain for once and listen? why’d he have to put it like that? doesn’t he know the quick attack is as **perfect** as we can make it?_

_tobio?_

his phone lit up and buzzed in his hand.

_i forgive you._

_but only if you forgive yourself first._

_fine._

_mean it, tobio._

_l/n-san..._

_hey you called me by my first name already. stop calling me that >:3_

kageyama sighed and sniffled before thinking of something to write back. he couldn’t think of what to say so he pressed the call button again.

“y/n...”

you smiled at the sound of him warming up to your first name. you still waited for him to talk, patiently knowing that if you gave him the time, kageyama would eventually keep telling you what was on his mind. you heard him sniffle and he wiped away the tears that had fallen from his eyes.

“i’m sorry.”

“i forgive you, tobio~” you said lovingly. “and about what i said... forgive yourself too. even if you can’t right now, i’ll be your anchor, yeah? like your support and someone you can lean on. so if something like today ever happens again, instead of elbowing me in the face... you’ll look at me and remember that i’ll hold you steady.”

just like that, you cheered kageyama tobio up. at the sound of your voice and reassurance, he finally felt relief wash over him. even with the stress and chaos from the day - from the supplementary exams to the fight with shoyo - you were still by his side.

“thank you, y/n.”

“there’s no need to thank me... but you still owe me.”

he scoffed and he heard your laugh as you teased him. _so much for the anchor speech._

“i’ll buy you that strawberry soda, idiot.”

“no~ i don’t want it. how about...”

he rolled his eyes and finally relaxed in his bed, waiting to hear what you wanted from him.

“let’s hang out tomorrow.”

“what for?”

“wow... i don’t think you know how best friends work, tobio~ let’s just hang out.”

you felt your stomach swarm up with butterflies when you heard him laugh and then sigh again. you smiled to yourself as kageyama agreed to go out with you tomorrow.

“fine, but this is _not_ a date...”

“fine... you still have to come pick me up.”

“whatever.”

“goodnight, tobio~”

“goodnight, y/n.”

**call ended**


	6. my light ❁

"ah! let's go inside!"

"y/n~ not the girly store!"

yes, you most definitely did drag kageyama into the girly shop of the mall. they were having a sale. so, you figured since the upcoming training camp was coming up soon, you should find some new clothes for the summer. plus, seeing the look on tobio's face as a pink glare shined directly into his eyes made you laugh.

"c'mon~ nekoma had a cute setter and i wanna wear something that'll catch his eye."

at the sound of you mentioning kenma, kageyama felt his stomach turn and he had an odd feeling creep up inside him. the first thing that came into his head was that _he_ wanted to be the cute setter that catches your eye. he then shook off this thought and called himself stupid. what was he thinking? you two were just friends. but before poor tobio could put up a fight and tell you he wasn't jealous, you started to laugh.

"i'm kidding, kags! c'mon, i didn't wanna come in here. i just wanted to see your reaction to the mannequin."

"which manne-"

you watched his face go blank and he malfunctioned as you pointed at a mannequin wearing red, lacey lingerie. you started to laugh again but had to drag him out while he brushed away another thought. the setter made a mental note to drink some holy water and pray once he got home.

so, the two of you walked out and you looked around the mall. you were unsure of which store to enter. everything was pretty expensive nowadays and you wanted to use your allowance wisely. as you started to walk to one of your favorite stores, you looked over at kageyama, who looked a little uninterested.

"tobio,"

he glances at you and waits for you to continue with what your saying. the two of you enter the store and he watches you wander to one of the stands and start looking threw the racks of clothes.

"you crushing on anybody?"

_kageyama.exe has stopped working._

you picked out a pair of shorts and hold it up next to a t-shirt you had found. you then turn to hold it in front of tobio, imagining how he would looking in the outfit you had made. you smiled but then looked for a better size. as you did so, kageyama finally came back to reality.

"stupid, why would you ask that?”

"just curious."

you give him an innocent smile and the setter only rolls his eyes. he couldn't exactly say he had a crush on anyone, especially to you. you would only tease him endlessly and push him to make a move on whoever it was. plus, he couldn't exactly bring himself to tell you about the weird feelings he got when you were around.

"i don't have a crush on anybody, weirdo."

"hmm,i know someone that has it bad for you."

he lets out a weird noise and you glance at him. you let out a chuckle when you see his eye twitch and wondered if he did have someone in mind. you were really just teasing to see his reaction and you were satisfied when his brain failed to understand what you were saying.

"well... i don't like anyone so i probably wouldn't like them back."

"that's too bad."

you added another shirt to your pile and began looking at some of the dresses nearby. kageyama trailed behind you, trying to examine your words carefully and deep in thought about who could possibly be crushing on him. he then puffed out a laugh, grabbing all your attention as he did so.

"well, y/n... do you have a crush on anyone?"

you gave him a soft smile and picked out a flowy sundress in your size. as you added it to your pile and he waited for your response, you shrugged.

"i guess."

he stares at you as you turned your back to find the dressing rooms. you see that they were in the middle of the store but were just small rooms with curtains. you were slightly disappointed but if you really wanted to purchase the dress, you'd have to try it on. you got over the thoughts of someone accidentally seeing you change and made your way into one of the booths.

kageyama finally catches up to stand next to the dressing rooms and wait for you to show him the clothes you had picked out. he leans against the wall, most definitely bored out of his mind and unsure why you brought him along when you knew he had little to no patience.

he's deep in thought about your response. why was he thinking so hard about an 'i guess?” he wondered why you would reply like that. were you interested in someone or not? his eyebrows furrowed trying to figure you out. he'd have to watch and see if you talked to anyone else besides him. wait... why did he care if you talked to somebody else though? it's not like-

"asahi! this hat totally looks good on you."

_azumane... senpai?_

kageyama lost his train of thought when he heard sugawara's laugh. he looked around and quickly found karasuno's ace admiring himself in the store’s mirror while daichi and sugawara both gave him hats to try on. tobio, afraid to confront his upperclassman outside of school, looked around in panic to hide. he swallowed in fear and grabbed the dressing room's curtain and hid. he sighed in relief as his genius plan had worked and he wouldn't have to-

"k-kageyama-san."

_oh god._

the poor setter turned his body slowly and met your eyes. his face was pale and he lost all the blood in his head. it was almost as if it all went rushing down to-

"k-kageyama... what're you doing?”

his mouth dropped and only a wheeze escaped as he realized he had accidentally stepped inside the dressing room where you were changing. thankfully, you had already changed into the dress but kageyama couldn't bring himself look away from your face. he backed away, closing the curtain behind him so you had all the privacy you needed. even though you were fully clothed.

he leaned against the wall, still stunned and now not as afraid to talk to his upperclassman if they approached him.

you peaked your head from the dressing room, pretending to shield your body with the curtain as a way to continue playing around with the setter. his head turned to look at you again and you squinted at him. he realized you were holding the curtain against your body but he saw your bare shoulder. his eye twitched, thinking on how he walked in on you half naked. you weren’t really, but of course, poor tobio didn’t know that.

things took another turn when you pushed the curtain aside and kageyama screamed.

you let out a loud laugh and nearly fell over as you watched him cover his eyes with his arm and he began to scold you. 

"idiot! i-i- why the hell did you bring me here! why did you do something like that when we're in the middle of the store! have some decency, dumbass y/n!"

you kept laughing and you reached out to grab him arm, only resulting in him panicking more and shoving you away. you held your stomach in pain as you continued howling of laughter, completely unaware of how loud the two of you were. kageyama's outburst and your laughter made almost everyone turn their attention to the two of you, including three upperclassman that already had suspicions of their kouhai's.

"is that-"

"l/n and kageyama?"

"yup."

"no way! we gotta take a picture and send it to the group chat!”

"asahi, you're the tallest! you take it!”

"what! ... fine."

so asahi took a picture as kageyama continued calling you names and you laughed as he panicked about how your body was on display for everyone to see.

"p-pervert! put on some clothes, y/n!"

daichi only shook his head and laughed while sugawara happily sent the picture to the volleyball club's group chat. he giggled and asahi did too as he read the message attached to the photo.

_pervyama and miss y/n are always up to no good hehe <3_

❁

"sheesh~ it's too hot."

you fanned yourself as you and kiyoko took the team's water bottles to the boys who had to run up the "hill of doom" as nishinoya had put it. each time a team lost a practice match, they faced a punishment of dives and running up the hill outside the gym. so far, the other teams going against karasuno were confident they wouldn't have to serve any punishments.

the two of you walked up and handed out the water bottles to the boys. you were extremely happy to be hanging with the team and getting to know everyone a little better. even yamaguchi was starting to warm up around you as you always complimented his float serves when he got the chance to show them off.

you took the last water bottle in your arms and crouched in front of kageyama, who was panting and wiping away the sweat from his face. he reached out to grab the water bottle but groaned as you held it away from his reach. he glared at you but you gave him a teasing smile.

"what's the magic word?"

"please?" he puffed out.

"nope, try again."

"y/n!"

you giggled and handed the setter his water bottle. you watched him chug the water and lean against the tree behind him. he let out another groan, clearly tired after a three set match. it was a close game, but fukurōdani's ace had finally cheered up and scored the final three points. you giggled when you saw his grey hair perk back up and their #5 only rolled his eyes, but smiled at the captain's silly attitude.

though, now you were in trance with kageyama's appearance as he rubbed his eyes and continued trying to catch his breath. you couldn't help but stare at setter as he sat under the shade with you, staring at the sky over the hill. as he admired the clouds floating by, you admired the way his jawline looked. you had always gotten a close look of his side profile from sitting by him all year but as the sweat dripped down his face, you couldn't help but think kageyama was a bit attractive. you found that kinda weird but also admired his clear skin. it had turned a golden color from hanging outside with you in the summer heat. he usually looked pale from always being in the gym or in his room, but you learned he tanned easily since the day the two of you hung out at a park back in miyagi.

"what? is there something on my face"

_shit... we got caught, boys...._

you cleared your throat. you felt your face turn slightly red and you hoped he'd think it's from being in the heat. kageyama curiously stared at you as he waited to hear your answer. you only shook your head, telling him you were just thinking about the last match. the setter nodded, taking another long drink of water. you sighed in relief for having come up with an excuse so quickly.

"hey, since everyone else is gonna be in the gym after practice... will you help me with my sets?"

you smiled at his request, knowing he had been working on a new skill the past few weeks.

"sure. it's a date!"

"no, it's not, idiot.

you laughed at his rejection and kageyama stood up. you then caught a good look at something behind him. as he moved to start walking down the hill, you moved over to the spot where he had been sitting.

"tobio, look!"

he stopped in his tracks and made his way back to sit next to you. he watched you touch the tree he had been using as support. your finger traced the outline of a heart carved into the tree but kageyama quickly bent down and grabbed your hand. you looked at him curiously as he sat down next to you and he quickly pulled his hand away when he realized what he had done.

"d-don't do that. you'll get a splinter."

you smiled and admired the heart. you cocked your head as you read two names also carved in the middle of the heart.

**yumeko + ryota ♡**

_cute_ , you thought. _cheesy... but cute._

"what is it?"

you looked back at the setter who curiously looked at the heart and wondered why someone would take the time to do such a thing. is this what couples do? he wouldn't know, seeing as volleyball took up most of his time to ever have been in a relationship. he thought about if this was something you would like to do. he suppressed those thoughts and mentally slapped himself for thinking such thing.

"it's a heart, kags."

"i know that, dumbass. what's it for?"

you laughed at his lack of love experience. sure, it was cheesy but if it brought happiness to the couple, then why should you judge?

"they must be a couple. it's for... love~"

you wiggled your fingers in front of his face as he backed away and cringed. was this really something people in love do? again, he found it odd but then found himself daydreaming of your name carved next to his. he shook off this thought again. as you made stupid kissy faces at him and laughed, kageyama only cringed at both you and the heart.

"it's kinda cute. maybe they met here... or had their first kiss!"

you and tobio looked at each other. he saw the happy expression on your face and stars in your eyes. he wondered if you were happy about the couple's relationship or... being there with him. no- it had to be about the heart. yet, he couldn't help but stare at your smile. he thought on how you were always the one to make him smile and he hoped he made you feel the same way. happy, that is. nothing else.

suddenly, kageyama realized the distance between his face and yours. had you leaned closer to him? he caught your eye looking from his face to... his lips? he swallowed. he looked down and he froze completely when he saw your finger tips were barely grazing his. he looked back up into your eyes and then at your lips. he was sure his face was red, and not because of the july weather.

and as you leaned closer to him, poor tobio was sure you were up to no good. he braced himselffor the moment your lips touched his. he wondered if he’d like it or have to reject you. he wondered if this is the story he'll tell his kids when they asked about his first kiss. he wondered if your lips were soft, as he always saw you using different chapsticks every day. he wondered which flavor you had chosen today. he wondered if it was-

_**smack** _

"there was a mosquito on your face, tobio.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe.  
> i have classes this week and i was already so distracted from writing these last two chapters that... i didn’t do my work LOL. the last three chapters will have to wait but i won’t be gone long :>  
> w💓


	7. my dreams ❁

"alright!!! onigiri for breakfast!!!"

you and nishinoya always found yourselves being the first ones awake. although you craved the warmth of your blanket, tossing and turning did no good as the sun crept up. so, you had gotten up just a little bit earlier than usual and ran into your favorite upperclassman. of course, you'd never tell tanaka that since you had already promised him that he was your favorite.

you giggled as the libero munched happily on the onigiri you had made for him. it was kinda messy and you had used last night's leftovers. the male didn't seem to mind as he smiled brightly and began to talk with his mouth full.

"you... are so cool... y/n-chan."

"whatever, yuu. you're the cool one!"

you gave him a little poke and got up to go into the small kitchen of the dining area. you could still talk to nishinoya, seeing as their was a small opening in front. you got ready to put water and other drinks into pitchers seeing as breakfast would be served soon. you might as well get a head start so your real favorite senpai, kiyoko, wouldn't have to do much work. of course, you'd never tell nishinoya and ryuu that since they'd probably sacrifice you during one of their 'kiyoko simp club' meetings.

you looked through the cabinets and found the containers you were looking for right away. you gave them a quick rinse, dried them, and then wandered back to fridge to get some of the drinks. there were a couple gallons of sports drinks and water but you knew the boys would want something more like the sweet tea or fruit punch. _ugh, what a struggle._

so, you grabbed all of the stuff you needed and went over to the little opening. as nishinoya went on and on about a manga he was reading, you grabbed the cap of the sweet tea and twisted it. well, you tried. you wiped any sweat that was on your hand and tried again. _what the... i can't be that weak..._ so you tried again. you took a deep breath and squeezed your eyes shut, struggling to get the cap off the gallon of sweet tea.

"whatcha doing?"

you jumped in surprise. that was definitely not nishinoya who was talking to you now. instead, a broad, tall figure stood in front of you from the other side of the opening. you blushed slightly as you recognized him to be fukurodani's captain and ace. the owl like male was giving you a bright smile and practically leaning through the opening to see what you were doing.

"a-ah... just..."

you found yourself slightly embarrassed. you wiped your hand again but felt too shy to try to open the sweet tea again. you looked up at the male's grey eyes again and he just laughed. maybe this is how poor tobio felt when you were teasing him. even if the male before you wasn't intentionally making you feel shy, you felt exactly that.

"do ya need help?"

but before you could answer, he walks through the door and stands next to you. you watch him easily open the gallon of sweet tea and you stare up at him in surprise. you're not sure why though. he had a well built figure and you're sure he could probably crush you with his giant biceps if he wanted to. you simply stared as the blush on your face turned a darker shade of red and nishinoya amusingly watched you get embarrassed around another male.

"there you go!"

"a-ah... thanks," you muttered out. you blinked in surprise again while the ace curiously stared back. he cocked his head and wondered why your face was so red. it wasn't hot in the room so what's up with that? he brought his finger to your cheek and poked it, making you tense up.

"what's your name? mine is bokuto koutarou!"

nishinoya then turns his head over to the entry of the dining area when he notices a figure in the corner of his eye. his jaw drops when he sees his precious kouhai, kageyama, watching the whole situation play out as well. the libero slaps his hand over his mouth, careful not to make any noise but definitely going to tell the whole team that kageyama tobio was totally jealous of bokuto. nishinoya was kinda glad it wasn't akaashi talking to you. dear god if he saw another setter talking to you, tobio would claim you had betrayed his friendship.

"ah... i'm l/n y/n. i'm with karasuno high."

"no way!!! i love your team! i’ve never gotten to play against karasuno until this year but hopefully you guys win the tournament so play an official match! that's so awesome! oh, wait, do you need help with that?"

you now began laughing at bokuto's enthusiasm. you had figured he was a pretty energetic guy since watching him play the past week. he was an incredible captain and ace. you loved watching him play since he seemed the most energetic around his pretty laidback team.

"don't you wanna eat first? i'll make you something since i'm already in here."

"you will! hey, hey, hey! that's so fucking- oh sorry, i shouldn't swear around a pretty girl!"

nishinoya nearly choked on his onigiri as the ace said this. the look on kageyama's face nearly made the libero pass out from holding in his laughter. yeah, he was definitely telling the team about this one.

so, kageyama sulked and walked to sit diagonally across his senpai. the setter pulled out his phone and mindlessly scrolled through social media, pretending to be occupied when he was just listening to you giggle around someone that wasn't him. wait... why did he care if you talked to another guy? it wasn't like... he was jealous or anything. maybe a little, but he'd never admit it. why should he care that-

"psst, kageyama~"

the setter looked up at nishinoya, who was covering part of his face to make sure you wouldn't hear them whispering about you. you were too busy talking to bokuto about his school to even pay attention, so tobio wondered why nishinoya was whispering.

"your girl's playing hard to get, man."

"she's not my- ugh..."

poor tobio slumped in his seat and set his phone down. he looked back up to see you pouring drinks into pitchers while the owl-like ace happily ate his fried egg you had quickly made him. the setter tried to get your attention telepathically, but you were far too interested in hearing about the festivals bokuto and akaashi went to in tokyo.

"dude, she's totally your girl!!! not... officially but she likes you!"

"l-likes me? well, i hope so since we're best friends."

nishinoya slapped his forehead, shaking his head disappointedly. kageyama was hopelessly lost. he hoped you liked him or else you had been wasting his time. for the first time in his life, he thought of other things besides volleyball. he often found himself thinking about the next time the two of you got to hang out. he wasn't much of an extrovert so you helping him break out his shell made him just a little bit happier with life. he was glad to have someone to call his best friend and was even happier it was you.

"kageyama- oh~ what's up, miss y/n!"

the setter looked over to find you taking a seat in front of him and next to his upperclassman. he hadn't even noticed bokuto had left and you were all finished preparing today's drinks. it was one less thing you and kiyoko had to worry about.

"hey~ what're my favorite libero and setter up to?"

with that comment, kageyama forgave you.you had still put him in a sour mood though. you could tell right away when he rest his cheek in hand and looked away. you looked at nishinoya and then back at your best friend. you wondered what they had been whispering about, but you didn't want to be rude to your new friend and stop paying attention.

"oh, nothing! kageyama was just telling me about... t-this pretty girl on instagram!"

your eyes widened and you looked at kageyama in surprise. you could tell nishinoya was covering up a lie, but you wanted to play along and see how long they could keep going with the act. you watched kageyama visibly panic and look at nishinoya for support.

"oh? a pretty girl? you told me you weren't crushing on anyone, tobio."

you watched the setter's eyes look from you to nishinoya. from the corner of your eye, you saw the libero shrug and kageyama desperately thought of an excuse.

"u-uh, what? no way! it was just my sister and nishinoya-san was being a pervert and saying she's pretty."

"what!!! as your cool senpai and teammate, i would never go for my teammate's sister!!! even if she was a smokin' hot babe, i would never! bros for life, man!"

you let out a loud cackle as the two short-tempered boys began to argue over this little act. you watched nishinoya stand up with his paper plate, all finished with his onigiri.

"i would never let my sisters near any of you guys so i would never fall for your sister! here i was thinking i was your cool senpai and you would... no way."

you turned your body to see nishinoya standing before the trash can. you and kageyama both watched the small libero throw away his plate and bend down to pick up a piece of paper. you wondered if your upperclassman was picking up some trash, but from the look on his face as he turned around, it was most definitely not trash.

"it's a lottery ticket!"

you giggled as the energetic boy bounced around happily. nishinoya skipped his way over to both of you, turning the seat around and sitting in an edgy-backwards position. he held the paper in front of his eyes, clearly excited to have found it.

"look, y/n-chan! i'm gonna be rich!"

"senpai, it says it's for 500 yen."

you suppressed a laugh as kageyama said this. yet, the sparkle in nishinoya's eyes didn't leave.

"cool... i can buy _two_ gari-gari kun popsicles!"

you started to laugh at your upperclassman as he was visibly vibrating with excitement. kageyama only shook his head while nishinoya stood up and claimed he was going to go show asahi the cool thing he found. this left you and kageyama alone for another 10 minutes before the others would begin to show up for breakfast.

the setter had gone back to mindlessly scrolling on instagram while you sat there watching him intently. it wasn't until he looked back up to see you staring that you spoke up.

"you haven't said good morning yet. what's wrong?"

he choked and looked away. tobio was not going to tell you that he was slightly jealous that you had been talking to someone else. it was too late, since you had figured that his glaring was for one reason only.

"nothing's wrong. i'm just... bored."

you squint at him, his nose and cheeks turning a light pink. you hummed, putting you elbow on the table and resting your face. he looked at you again, but then looked away again as he realized you were trying to figure him out. never in a million years would he say-

"you're jealous, huh?"

"what! how- i'm not jealous, dumbass!"

he clicked his tongue and pushed his chair back, standing up and completely turning his back on you. you remained sitting and knew he was just trying to hide the red blush spreading across his face. it was too bad tobio's neck also turned a lighter red when he was embarrassed. you knew him all too well. what kind of best friend would you be if you didn't?

"tobio~ sit down."

"no! i'm not jealous!"

"okay, you're not. just sit with me a little longer."

so, the poor setter sat down, still trying to hide his red face. he didn't look at you until he heard you hum in delight, peeking at your smiling face and he felt his heart race just a little. you drummed your fingers on the table for a quick second before looking into his blue eyes.

"i'll make it up to you. what do you want? it can be anything."

you decided since you had embarrassed him, you'd do something in return for all the teasing you do. typically, you were the one asking for favors or for tobio to serve a silly punishment. this time, you'd finally let him pick something for you to do.

the setter thought for a moment. what was something you dreaded doing, but he would love to see you do anyways? he could really only think of things you liked, until one thing came to his mind. a smirk appeared on his face and you began to regret your offer.

"after practice, let's go on a run."

you groaned and slumped in your chair. you dramatically stomped your feet and began to whine.

"tobio~ i don't wanna!"

"y/n! you said anything!"

you leaned over to rest your forehead on the table and heard him laugh at your childish behavior. he was most definitely enjoying this. he always asked you to go out early in the morning for a walk, but tobio was up way earlier than you would ever want to be. the only time he would catch you awake at 5 in the morning is from pulling any all nighters, not for a run.

yet, you sighed and looked to see him smiling. if the thought of you going on a run made him feel better, then you'd have to agree so he wasn't in a bad mood. you rolled your eyes and sat back up.

"fine..."

"yes!"

you watched your best friend jump up happily. tobio let out a laugh, finally satisfied that he was not the one having to serve any punishments. you admired his now eager attitude as he pointed at you dramatically.

"let's meet at 7:00 before it gets dark. it's _not_ a date though."

you scoffed.

"i wouldn't want it to be one anyways."

❁

and that's how you found yourself stretching with tobio. he was so pumped that while you sat on the steps stretching your legs, the setter jogged in placed. he was practically jumping around and telling you to hurry up. you wondered how he always had so much energy even after playing game after game of volleyball.

"y/n! c'mon! that's enough!"

"if i get a cramp, you're carrying me back."

"never mind then..."

you giggled at his response as he finally settled down to patiently wait for you to finish your stretches. he was already warmed up from playing all day but seeing as you don't do much besides stand and watch the games, he'd have to wait for you to get warmed up as well. so, he sat next to you on the steps and watched the sky turn a bright orange and pink.

"tobio, let's have a competition."

the setter perked up and looked at you. although you were always the one winning, kageyama couldn't say no to your challenges. as you massaged the back of your leg, you looked over at him with a smile.

"how about... whoever stops running first, gets punished."

tobio knew his stamina wouldn't let him lose. plus, he promised it'd only be a quick jog around the block and you two would be back in 15 minutes. this was nothing compared to the hour he spent running around miyagi. so, kageyama was determined to win and make you face any punishment he chose.

he held out his hand in front of you.

"deal."

the two of you shook hands and he stood up when he saw you stand up. he admired the side of your face as you smiled up at the sky.

"on your mark..." you started.

the two of you got into position to start running.

"get set..."

and you took off before you could say 'go.' you took him by surprise as you did so, but from all the races with hinata, he caught up quickly. you laughed as he tried to run past you but stayed by your side so he wouldn't lose you. you may or may not enjoy running but you certainly enjoyed watching tobio try to stay ahead of you. he had a determined smile on his face as the two of you ran. all he could think was all the other things he wanted to do with you if you lost.

kageyama then lost his train of thought when he heard your laugh again. he glanced over at you, but made sure to keep paying attention to whatever was in front of him. he certainly did not want to run into anything while you were around.

"tobio, remember that lottery ticket that nishinoya found."

"yeah?"

"hehe. if it was worth more... millions, more, what would you buy?"

he thought about your question. there wasn't much that he wanted. kageyama was simple guy and didn't need much, but if he had to choose...

"i dunno. i'd want my own court to play volleyball."

the two of you had slowed down to a jog now, careful to not run too fast as to not get tired so quickly. you knew he'd answer with something like that since he didn't show much interest in anything else besides volleyball. who knows? maybe if he wished hard enough, tobio would get his own court. as you got lost in your thoughts and forgot to respond, kageyama spoke up again.

"what about you? what would you want?"

"hmm... i'd probably buy some stuff i don't need, but," you started. kageyama stopped in his tracks and you did as well. he caught his breath pretty quickly and sat in a nearby bench with you. you took in a deep breath and thought for a moment. you stared at the sky, now a beautiful mixture of colors and the moon could slightly be seen behind some floating clouds.

"i'd want to go with someone i love on a trip. just to get away and spend time with them."

you admit it sounded cheesy, but getting to relax with your significant other sounded like fun. the two of you could plan a long trip and have plenty of money to spend while you guys were away. it would a perfect getaway. one that everyone dreams of having. you smiled as you thought of every location in the world that would be the perfect escape. you had plenty in mind and winning the lottery would most likely allow you to travel the entire world.

"that... actually sounds kinda fun."

you smiled at his comment and nodded. you now looked over him. he was breathing a little slower and the setting sky gave his skin a warm, golden glow. his eyes wandered around before he glanced over at you and caught you staring. you didn't look away, though, and he admired your warm smile. he thought on how cute it was that the two of you were sitting together to watch the sunset. he stared into your bright eyes but you would catch them drifting a bit lower. you weren't sure what he was thinking about now.

"tobio,"

he looked back into your eyes, taken by surprise as you spoke up again.

"where would you want to go?"

the setter thought for a moment. he wasn't sure. he liked the comfort of his home more than anything else. he had never put much thought into visiting any places outside of japan. he looked back up at the sky and thought of places. he couldn't really think of any, but then he remembered somewhere he had always wanted to go to. tobio had always read stories about this place and how people from around the world would visit every year. he always saw beautiful pictures of foreigners with their loved ones there.

"i would wanna go to the sakura festival with the person i love."

kageyama then looked over at you, staring at the setter in surprise and curiousness. you hadn’t ever thought he would love to be somewhere so close to home. it was a simple answer, but it was filled with so much thought. you stared at him for a moment, but you were careful to not make it look like you were judging him. you actually enjoyed the thought that kageyama would want to visit such a cute festival.

"well... what would you wanna do there?"

he wasn't sure. he thought back on the pictures and wondered what there was to do besides admire the cherry blossom trees. the setter thought sitting there under the trees with the person he loved most would be a great memory. just spending time with someone was something he admired. he didn't want much besides that.

"mmm, we would go eat or even have our own picnic. i've always seen people sitting by the river under all the trees doing stuff like that. i would just wanna be there with them."

his words made you go soft and your heart warm up. there were only a couple of times tobio had been very open with you, but you had never heard such sweet words come out of his mouth. you had now learned his love language was quality time and wondered if that's why you always managed to cheer him up. you always asked him to hang out and he never once rejected your offers. even going to places he found boring never seemed to bother tobio. he simply enjoyed your presence.

"tobio?"

he looked over to see you giving him a small smile again.

"y'know that's really cute and all... but you kinda lost our competition."

he cocked his head as he wondered what you were taking about. upon seeing the confusion in his face, you realized he had totally forgotten about the competition you had proposed. he had been too caught up thinking about your questions that he had even forgotten that he had asked you to go on the run to begin with.

"we shook on it. whoever stopped running was the loser."

kageyama's eyes widened as he realized he had gotten distracted by your lottery ticket question that he had slowed down to a complete stop. then, he had gotten so lost in thinking about a picnic that he had sat down with you at the bench.

he really was a sore loser. you giggled as he realized that. instead of complaining about it, he just sighed and gave you a smile.

"as always, you win. what do you want?"

you stood up and put your hands in your pocket. he was now the one admiring the golden glow on your face as you thought for a moment on the thing you wanted. he hoped it wasn't something he hated and that he'd just have to buy you snacks. he watched a smile appear on your face and you looked over to see his curious blue eyes watching your every move.

"i'll let you know later."


	8. our days ❁

kageyama was careful not to move when you rested your head on him. you had fallen asleep and asked him to wake you up once the team made it back to miyagi. it would be a long drive, so might as well sleep. this only made poor tobio nervous, who was determined not to move and wake you up from your quick nap. he wanted you to rest since he knew you had been working hard with kiyoko the past two weeks to take care of the team.

he felt stiff, too focused on trying not to move even an inch. he would hate to be the reason you woke up. he enjoyed being your pillow, listening to your soft breaths and taking in the scent of your perfume and shampoo. this seemed to relax him a bit. he could never seem to get enough of the way you smelled. he couldn't quite put a name on the scent, but he was glad it wasn't too strong. if anything, he was now afraid he was going to fall asleep because of it. he relaxed his head onto yours and stared at the seat in front of him.

tobio looked back on the past two weeks with you. he was so happy you had joined the club as their manager and never expected so much to happen while you were there with him. even with all your teasing, he wanted to keep all those precious memories with him forever.

first, the mosquito incident. he wondered why he had been so disappointed that day. he should have known that you weren't going to kiss him. the two of you were best friends - nothing more. still, he had sat there in shock while you laughed at him. you had apologized and told him you didn't want the mosquito biting his face. he scolded you a bit, saying you should have warned him. again, you apologized and told him you'd save some extra dinner for him if he forgave you, so he did. yet, he couldn't help felt but feel a slight pang in his chest when he realized you hadn't been thinking the same thing he was. then again, why was he thinking such things? the two of you were just best friends.

then, he remember the morning he saw you talking to bokuto. why did he feel so angry seeing you talk to him? the way you laughed with the ace made his skin crawl and he almost wanted to ignore you for not offering him anything to eat. he wondered why he felt such resentment to bokuto when he knew the two of you had just met. if you wanted to make friends from other teams, then why shouldn't you? yet, hearing nishinoya tell him you were his girl only made tobio want it to be true. then again, why was he thinking such things? you two were just best friends.

kageyama remembered sitting with you at the bench. he was so deep in thought about going to the sakura festival when another thought came to mind. he wanted to sit under the cherry blossoms with you. he wanted you to have a picnic with him by the river as the two of you ate your favorite foods. he wanted to be the one you were crushing on and take you on your perfect getaway like you dreamt of. if only he had been the one to find that lottery ticket, but instead of 500 yen, it was millions. he would take you anywhere you wanted. he would watch you do everything you loved to do and he'd be happy just by seeing your precious smile. he'd want you to stay like that forever. he wanted all of that with you... but why was he thinking about that? you two were just-

that’s when he realized something. kageyama didn't want to be just best friends. he wanted that kiss by the tree where another couple may have had their first kiss. the two of you could have kept that tradition going and added your names to the tree. he wanted it to be **y/n + tobio ♡**. he wanted to be the one helping you in the kitchen that morning and you would offer to make him breakfast before the rest of the team came to eat. he would help you finish preparing the drinks so his managers would have one less thing to worry about. he wanted to be the one you laughed with as he told you about the adventures he had in the past. he wanted to be the one you love and went on a perfect getaway with. he wanted to stay there or travel the world if that's what you wanted. he didn't care about his stupid volleyball court. he wanted to spend his millions on you and make sure you were well taken care of.

then again, why was he thinking such things? you two were _just_ best friends.

❁

"what! you can’t sit in the court with us?"

"sorry, sho. the rules say only one manager can be on the court."

"aw, but you won't get to see my _wa-pow!_ up close."

you laugh and bring shoyo into a hug once he comes back down from faking a spike. you give him a pat on the back and pull away.

"i'm sure it'll look cooler from the audience view, sunshine."

he now brightened up and you take notice of kageyama who's staring daggers at both you and the ginger. as hinata bounces away happily, you walk over to tobio and poke his side. he turns away, grabbing his stomach where your finger had just touched him.

"good luck, tobio~"

you grin widely when he finally looks at you and pink tint appears across his face. you wonder what's gotten into him the past few days, as he always staring off into space. you wondered if he was nervous for the tournament to begin and hoped he didn’t get too worked last minute.

"thanks, y/n," is all he replies.

you hear daichi tell the others to get ready to go inside the gym and you hold your fist up in front of your best friend. the two of you fist bump and you wander off to find the entrance to the stands. you find tanaka's big sis, saeko, and she warmly greets you. she recognizes you from the times you hung out with nishinoya and ryuu at the tanaka residence. she thinks you're just as much of a trouble maker as her little brother and his best friend.

you see shoyo and nishinoya waving up at you, then quickly getting smacked on their necks when they're supposed to bow with the team. you giggle and catch kageyama looking over at you as well when they make their way to form the starting line up. you smile and hold your fist out towards him. you see his lips curl up into a smile and he does the same back to you. soon, the whistle blows and the game begins.

all is going well. karasuno proves to be a strong opponent and wins the first game. from the stands, kageyama finds your voice and hears you cheering for him. he honestly expected you to be cheering for hinata after scoring the last point, but he focuses on the way you yell out "nice job, tobio!" he smiles to himself before joining the rest of the team to line up.

you're worried when you see the next opponent. they have a giant player and you watch as his height serves to benefit him during the second game. you listen to coach ukai's grandfather explain the disadvantages karasuno have, but you know they'll find a way to win. you start paying closer attention when kageyama's up to serve. you're blown away when you witness his powerful jump serve and kakugawa fails to get it back over the net. you gasp in excitement and yell out to your best friend again.

"score ten more, tobio!"

he hears you clearly, even with the rest of the audience cheering around you as well. he takes the ball again, determined to get another point just for you. he's determined to get another point just so he'll hear you cheer for him one more time. it's not long before he and shoyo use the new quick attack, successfully stealing another point. you listen in on grandpa ukai explaining to his small students how they're using an attack in 'minus tempo.' you watch the game and from the court, kageyama can see how excited you are to be there cheering the team on. he was starting to think that his best friend was his good luck charm.

when karasuno wins against kakugawa, kageyama can't help but feel butterflies when he hears you yell out, "those are my boys!" he knows you're proudly cheering for the entire team, but he's happy you cheered for him throughout the games. even when the two of you meet in the hallway, the grins on your faces would stay there all night.

"holy shit, tobio! you're so fucking cool when you do that _woosh_ ~ and the team couldn't receive it! a-and then you and shoyo did that minus tempo attack and sho goes _bam_!"

you're jumping up and down in front of him, grabbing a hold of his arms as you do. he laughs and wonders why you're much more excited than he is for winning the first round of the tournament.

"don't say it like that. you're starting to sound like dumbass hinata."

"but it was so cool! it was kinda scary that one time you almost hit me with your jump serve, but seeing the look on the others team face when you crushed their spirits was so fucking sick!"

you pull him in for a tight embrace, taking him by surprise and it takes him a second to register what you're doing. it almost seems as though the whole world disappeared and all that matter was that you were holding him so close. he almost wished you would stay there with him forever as you continued complimenting him. tobio smiles as he rests his head on you, holding you a lot gentler than you were. he doesn't mind you breaking a few ribs as long as you're happy.

❁

you let out a yelp when you see a hooded figure passing the entrance of the gym. you back away in surprise, but you notice the figure also jump. your eyes are shot wide open, unsure of what to do. as the person turns to look at you, you realize who they are.

"t-tobio? what're you doing?"

he's dressed suspiciously in a black hoodie, sunglasses, and a baseball cap. he tenses up in a shock as you catch him sneaking off somewhere instead of being at practice.

"how did you know it was me! damn it..."

he takes off the sunglasses and hat, making you giggle as a stern look appears on his face.

"are you going somewhere like that?"

"no..."

"can i come with you?"

kageyama's back slumps as you read right through him. he sighs and looks down at the ground. you set the basket you held in your hands down and make your way down the steps. he glances up at you for a second but quickly looks away, his cheeks turning a dark red. he’s embarrassed you caught him but decides to let you tag along. so, he leads you out of the school curiously wondering what the setter was up to.

"don't tell anyone. out of everyone we might have to face in the tournament... there's one team i want to watch at any cost."

you now wondered which school he was taking you to. there were only two possible schools you knew he could be talking to, but which one?

"ah... are you going to video them or something?"

"no, there's an unwritten rule you can only record official matches but i still want to watch even if i won't gain anything out of it."

you hum and nod at his response. you jot down a mental note of the first part of what he said, but still not understanding which school it is he wants to watch. you then look at him with a confused expression, wondering why kageyama had put on such weird disguise.

"y'know... if you didn't want to look suspicious on school grounds after hours, you should've just worn normal clothes."

tobio stops in his tracks and you laugh as he takes in what you just said. he frowns, looking away in embarrassment again as he realizes that was true. he had even scared you when you had caught him. who knows what would have happened if someone else had caught him? they would have most likely thought he was a pervert trying to pick up random high school girls.

you take his arm with your hand and tug him to keep walking. you give him a reassuring smile and you watch as he takes off the hoodie. he struggles a bit, trying his best not to also take off his t-shirt in front of you. once he finally gets the suspicious, black hoodie off, you offer to hold it for him. it's warm in your arms and you hold it close to your body.

you follow kageyama to sit at a bus stop, which quickly arrives and the two of you step on. he allows you to sit down but he remains standing and holding onto the handle above his head. he looks down at you, happily hugging his hoodie. he smiles to himself and doesn't even realize when you up at him with a smile as well. soon, he tells you that the bus made it to the stop. 

as you walk out of the bus and tobio stands next to you, you realize which school he had brought you to. you see the bold letters reading **aoba johsai high** and kageyama leads you to find the gym where the volleyball team is practicing. a couple of girls walk past, giggling but you see them stop when they take notice of kageyama. you look over him and his aura is visibly purple. you hear him whispering suspicious things and you poke him. he jumps in surprise as you wake him up from his thoughts. the two of you stop and you give him another reassuring smile.

"calm down, tobio. everyone's staring," you whisper. his eyes wander around to see the girls staring but then looks back at you. he only nods and you tug on him to keep walking. he calms down when he watches you walk beside him, still holding onto his hoodie which is now thrown over your shoulder. you're hugging it and smiling as he tries to focus on finding the gym of the school. yet, all he can focus on is how you look so happy holding his hoodie.

the two of you finally find the gym and he recognizes the voice of his former upperclassman, oikawa. he crouches down a bit while you stand behind as a watch guard. you're not really sure why you came along to spy on another team, but sneaking off with him sure sounded like a fun idea. so, you just stand there thinking of other things as he intently watches the teams that are currently on break.

he curiously watches oikawa introduce himself to the college team, now joining to play as their setter. as a new practice match begins, tobio quickly sees how his upperclassman blends in with the college team. the captain adapts to his new team after just a few points scored. kageyama watches the team play for a while before you tug on his shirt.

he turns to look at you, but his heart begins to pound when he sees you in his hoodie. you're hugging yourself and leaning against the wall. he notes that you're shivering in the october breeze. tobio stands up straight but can't take his eyes off of you. he finds you adorable wearing his clothes but now he feels guilty for dragging you along with him as you stand there bored and cold. he sighs, deciding that he's seen enough and he should probably take you home now.

so, the two of you walk back to the bus stop, but then you decide to walk past it. kageyama stands confused for a moment before catching up beside you.

"y/n, the stop was back there."

"mmm, but i know another way home."

"it's like a 30 minute walk!"

“don’t you run every morning for like an hour straight?”

you look over at your best friend and he's curiously trying to figure out what you're up to now. you take your hand out of the pocket of his hoodie you had put on and hold it out. you slide the sleeves up so he'd see your offering your hand. you watch his eyes widen and you start to laugh at his reaction.

"tobio, wanna hold my hand?"

he visibly panics and hides his hands from you. you roll your eyes and put your hand back in the pocket. _such a baby_ , you think. you take a turn and kageyama has to register you left him when you do. he trails behind you, wondering again what you're up to. as he walks behind you, he admires your legs which are exposed since you're wearing your school uniform skirt. he then looks away, ashamed that he would even look at you that way. he only turns to look you again when you turn around and start walking backwards very carefully.

"hey, if you can guess why i took you on this detour... i'll buy you a milk."

he cheers up when you suggest the challenge, forgetting he felt bad about staring at your bare legs. the two of you continue walking and he thinks about the objective of the challenge. why are you two taking this detour? he doesn't even know why you wanted to join him in the first place so why are you bringing him on a different adventure?

kageyama watches you crouch down, cooing at something in front of you. he walks to now stand beside you and he sees you’re petting a small golden retriever. you're giggling as the puppy becomes excited at the new attention it's receiving from you. you're thankful it's small when it jumps on you, placing its paws on your knees.

you go to fix your skirt so you don't flash anyone on accident, but then you notice a few more puppies come running to you out nowhere. some jump on you like the first one, while a few others jump to place their paws on kageyama. they're so tiny that they barely make it up his knees. the poor setter doesn't know how to react, seeing as he's never felt very comfortable around animals.

you look back up at your best friend, who's visibly tense and unsure of what to do. the puppies whine around him and you move the puppies that were on you. you stand back up and take tobio's arm. the two of you meet eyes and you can tell he's very confused as to what he's supposed to do as the puppies beg for attention. your hand slides down to his wrist, guiding it to pet the dog in front of him. you both crouch down so he'll be closer to the dog. when he feels the puppy's soft fur, he now naturally pets the animal.

"have you ever pet a dog, tobio?"

he shakes his head, now in trance at how soft the puppy is. some of the other puppies whine and bark at him gently as he only pays attention to the one dog happily sitting in front of him. he's always felt like animals disliked him so he's never actually pet a dog. he's seen others with them, but never felt that comfortable to be near them. now, he realizes he should have been petting puppies his entire life.

he stands back up when you take his hand and pull him up. the puppies run away at the sound of a whistle and the two of you notice a woman with a larger golden retriever standing nearby. the puppies go run to crowd around the mother and the two of you bow to the woman respectfully. she gives you and your best friend a smile before walking away with the group of puppies, obediently following their mother.

you let go of tobio's hand and continue on your journey. the setter wonders if this was the reason why you had brought him on different path. he watches you walk away with a bounce on your step, turning the corner into a small park where the woman had been. he curiously follows you to the swings, which you're glad are empty. you sit down but you don't swing just yet. tobio sits down next to you as you hold onto the chains of the swing. you only sway a bit, but never going at a faster pace. he wonders if you wanted to bring him to this small park. you always liked taking him to the park to people watch or talk. every time you tried to convince him to play on the playground but never getting him to do so.

then, it seemed painfully obvious as to why you had taken the detour. he would have taken a guess and said it was because you wanted him to pet puppies or play on the playground. instead, he perked up and gave you a sly smirk. you cocked your head at him and wondered what he was thinking about.

"i think i know why you wanted to take this detour."

you smile at him. had he figured you out? you waited for his response and he let out an evil laugh before squinting at you.

"you didn't want to go to practice huh?"

you look down at your feet and shake your head with a laugh.

"nope! good guess."

"what! i'm totally right!"

a look of surprise forms on kageyama's face. he's now out of ideas and he knows it's not because of the puppies or the playground. so what could you possible be up to? his eyebrows furrow as he tries to think of another answer. he groans when he can't think of another reason and looks at you completely defeated. you let out another laugh.

"i just wanted to see the look on your face as you tried to guess."

his eye twitched. were you being serious? that's it? as he hears you laugh, poor tobio knows he's been tricked by you once again. he sighs, knowing you're not going to buy him a milk carton. if only he had thought of that...

"that's not fair, dumbass."

"yuh huh. if you want another chance, there's another reason why."

he perks up hearing he gets another chance. now, there's a second answer. maybe he'd guess one of the other thoughts he had. which one could it be? he uses his feet to swing just a little bit before looking at you curiously.

"gimme a hint."

"pfft."

you start to laugh again and start to swing a little faster, gaining just enough momentum to swing without using your feet. you wonder if he'll be able to figure it out with the hint you'll give you. kageyama's memory tended to fail him so he'd be lucky if he remembered.

"the second reason why is something i asked you earlier."

of course, poor tobio did not remember that as the two of you had began the detour, you had asked him if he wanted to hold your hand.


	9. blueberry eyes ❁

it's silent. everything seems to go in slow motion as you grip the railing in front of you, anxiously watching hinata spike the ball over shiratorizawa's side of the net. the libero dives in to save the ball, but as it hits his forearm he realizes it will not go in the direction he wanted. your eyes widen as the volleyball hits the floor and both teams are frozen in their tracks. you feel your chest tighten and there's a lump in your throat when the whistle blows - **19-21**.

your hands cover your mouth and you feel the tears starting to form in your eyes. you don't even get a chance to scream when saeko pulls you into her arms to engulf you in a rib-shattering squeeze. when you feel the warmth of her body, you start to feel dizzy and finally let the sob escape your mouth. even the screaming around you seems to drown out as all you can think is, _those are my boys_. after five long sets, karasuno high finally beat shiratorizawa academy in the interhigh tournament.

it feels so surreal.

saeko finally lets go and you look back at the court. you let out a choked laugh when you see kageyama telling shoyo something, but the poor ginger is reaching his arms out to grab the air. his knees are weak and you're sure he's about to fall over. thankfully, nishinoya and kageyama manage to drag him to line up. they say their thank you's and go to shake hands with the other team.

you're sure shiratorizawa is feeling disappointed, but as you look through karasuno's members, you're very unsure of how they're feeling. you don’t know what you expected when you saw kageyama's face, but you can tell he's tired. you can't help but smile when his eyes close for a few seconds before opening them very slowly.

as the team starts to line up in front of the students and staff from karasuno, your eyes meet the dazed blue ones on your best friend. the boys take a quick bow as the crowd yells out supportive praise to them. all you can focus on is kageyama's tired face. as they come back up, you give him a smile and hold your fist out in front of you in his direction. you notice he lets out a quiet laugh and he smiles gently, his arm lazily lifting up in your direction as well.

you finally meet up with kiyoko as the award ceremony begins. as you give a final round of applause to your team, you can't help but stifle a laugh when you see shoyo proudly standing with a grin on his face. you're proud of him for working so hard after all this time. since the first day you met him and you teased him along with your best friend, you knew the determined ginger would do anything he could to achieve his dreams. you had to wipe away a couple of tears as you thought back on the past year with the two first years. it had been a long journey with them.

_those are my boys._

❁

"tobio~ eat up!"

you had asked shoyo to save you a seat in between him and your best friend. you're surprised he had even remembered since he was now fast asleep in front of nishinoya. you had finished setting down everyone's food with kiyoko and now you would finally get to eat with the rest of the team. ryuu was also fast asleep next to nishinoya and you giggled as a loud snore escaped him. he hadn't even noticed kiyoko had sat next to him. you were sure he'd never believe you that it happened when you would tell him later on.

the team said their thank you's and you glanced over at kageyama, who was swaying back and forth trying to stay awake. you had to admit he looked kinda cute trying to keep his eyes open. he was tired and unsure if he was dreaming. poor tobio doesn't even notice when you take his arm and wrap it behind your back. you feel the warmth of his hand on your side as you nuzzle up next to him. you take a peek at his face, eyes still struggling to stay open. you giggle to yourself as you think of something and his eyes finally give up.

you let go of his hand, but it stays attached to your waist. you take ahold of the spoon on his side and get a little bit of rice. since he's too sleepy to eat, you decided that it was only right to help poor tobio eat. plus, the look on his face once he finally woke up and realized what you were doing would be priceless. so, you brought the spoon up to his mouth, carefully placing it by lips and poking them a bit.

"tobio~ say ahh~"

"l/n, please don't do that in front of me. i swear to god if he-"

and the setter opens his mouth and you carefully put the spoon inside. you had to suppress your laughter as tsukishima looks at you in disgust. you're sure he'd be laughing with you once he sees what you're up to. you take the spoon out of tobio's mouth as he chews the rice slowly. once he swallows, you can't help but wheeze a little when he opens his mouth for more. so, you take another spoonful of rice and feed it to the sleepy boy.

"here's comes the airplane~"

half of the team was cringing at the two of you while the others just laughed to themselves. you set his spoon down and grab yours to start eating your own food. you decided it was enough teasing and you were starving after a long day of cheering. it's not long before you nearly choke on your food as the hand around your waist squeezes you. as tobio's fingers dig into your side, you jump up in surprise and look over to see the stunned look on his face. when he had swallowed the rice, kageyama had realized what you had been doing while he was half-asleep. you remove his hand and rub your side, slightly burning from the tight squeeze he had given you.

"why'd you do that? it hurt," you whined.

kageyama's face was pale as the team members around him burst out into laughter. the setter, embarrassed, cocks his head slowly and the two of you meet eyes. you give him soft smile but you see his eye twitch. he really hopes that he's dreaming, but seeing as the food tasted real, he knew wasn't. the whole day had been real, even now as his teammates laughed at your teasing. he only sighs and rolls his eyes at you, knowing your playing around and trying to get him to eat after a long day. he doesn't even have the energy to scold you.

kageyama takes ahold on his chopsticks with shaking fingers. he's exhausted, but hungry. he takes a deep breath and slowly brings a piece of ham to his mouth. you notice his hand is shaking and he closes his eyes again, carefully chewing on the piece of meat. you're not sure if he's savoring the flavor or simply too tired to keep his eyes open.

"you did amazing today, but i'm sure you're tired, huh?"

he nods his head slowly. his hands are very unsteady as he brings another piece of ham to his mouth, nearly dropping it since his hands were so shaky. he hears you giggle and he looks at you from the corner of his eye. he watches you hold your hand out and his eyebrows furrow.

"let me feed you."

tobio tenses up, clenching the chopsticks and his eyes widening when you say that.

"no! that's not something friends do."

"oh? then who does?"

a smirk appears on your face and you know exactly what he's thinking about. he meant that feeding each other was something couples did. of course, tobio would never admit that's what he was thinking. especially around his teammates who had already been laughing at him just a few minutes ago. the setter, annoyed, looks away and tries his best to conceal his shaking hands.

he doesn't reply, so you turn and place your hand on shoyo's lower back. the poor ginger is fast asleep, drool accumulating on the table. you cringe, but rub his back. you're sure he's tired but excited he helped get the team to nationals. you were extremely proud of him but you wanted to make sure your friend ate as well.

"oh my dear sunshine, shoyo! you need to wake up and eat as well."

"f-five more minutes, mom."

❁

"next... kageyama!"

the setter gets a running start and jumps as high as he can, reaching his fingers and tapping the basketball board. five fingerprints are left on the fiberglass and you take the measurements of his spiking point. as his feet land on the floor, he looks up at you with a smile.

"337 centimeters!"

the team look at the two of you in surprise. tobio is now the member with the highest spiking point, but there's still one more boy waiting his turn.

"hinata! you're up, sunshine!"

you're always taken by surprise by the smaller boy's abilities. you smile brightly at him while taking the measurements. he's visibly vibrating with energy as you call out the number for kiyoko to write down.

"333 centimeters!"

you can't but laugh when your best friend turns to look at shoyo with a smirk and the ginger slumps over. he had really wanted to beat kageyama, but he would have to grow a few more inches before that happened. now poor shoyo owed his teammate three curry buns.

you climb down the ladder you had been standing on, only to hear kageyama and hinata making another deal to see who can block the most volleyballs. you shake your head in amusement as kageyama happily shakes on it, telling hinata that whoever loses has to buy the winner yogurt for a week straight. before they could continue making more bets, the team turn their heads as they hear the gym doors fly open.

"is everyone here?"

daichi tells everyone to gather by the entrance when takeda walks inside. you stand in between tobio and shoyo so they'll stop trying to make bets and listen to their adviser.

"thank you for all your hard work! i know this is sudden, but i have big news!"

many of the members tilt their head in confusion. it had only been a few days after the shiratorizawa game and the boys were already working hard to prepare for nationals. although coach had offered a week off practice, you always found the boys playing outside in the soccer field since the basketball team had taken over the gym. the team could never get enough of volleyball.

"kageyama-kun," takeda starts.

everyone's heads turn to look at your best friend, including you. he's taken by surprise but he remains listening to takeda.

"you've been asked to attend the national youth intensive training camp!"

"n-national?"

”youth?!”

the team all tensed up, jaws dropping and you look at kageyama again. his eyes had widened in total shock and you're sure he may have just stopped breathing.

"tobio! isn't that the training camp for representatives under 19?"

although he's still in shock, the setter nods slowly. he's not able to look away from takeda until he feels you wrap your arms around him. it's only when he recognizes your familiar scent that he tears his eyes away from their adviser. you had snuck your hands under his arms and around his torso, your head resting against his body. his hand comes up to hold the back of your head, softly petting you. tobio doesn't even realize the other boys are patting his back in support. all he can focus on is the warmth of your body against his.

"the training is going to be held for five days at the beginning of december, right before the spring tournament in january. it's not a requirement to go but-"

"i'll go."

you look him with star-struck eyes and a bright smile that lights up his whole world. he returns the smile and you feel him pet your head again. you feel your heart pound and your stomach warms up as you stare into his eyes. the two of you can't help but forget there's people around as you hug.

"the best in japan will be there. i'm so proud of you, tobio."

❁

_kageyama-kun, let's go to the shrine together?_

_no._

why would tobio want to spend his new year’s with hinata?

he feels his phone buzz again and wonders if hinata's trying to put up a fight. instead, he finds a message from his best friend.

_tobio~ let's go make some wishes for the new year!_

_i'll be there in 15._

he'd much rather spend it with you.

so, he takes the bus to your home and the two of you walk to the shrine nearby where there are people going up and down the steps. it's beautifully decorated with lanterns and banners with prayers. the two of you walked up the steps, talking about how nationals were coming up soon. you admit you were slightly nervous for the team but you knew that no matter what happened, you'd continue supporting them.

"is there anyone you met at the training camp you really want to go against?"

you watch tobio shrug. he thinks for moment on all the people he met while in tokyo. he had met plenty of new opponents that he believed were stronger than him. he would feel worried going against some of the best in the country, but knowing you'd be there to cheer him on made him feel excited.

"just a couple. i'm just glad we're going."

you nod in agreement at his gratitude. as the two of you stand in line to do your prayers, kageyama can't help but stare at you as you talk to him about other things. you're going on and on about how it must have been fun to go to the all-youth training camp. he can't help but watch your lips move instead of listening. he unconsciously nods, not really hearing a word you say. he then watches you cover up your ears and complain about how cold it is. his lips curl up into a small smile and he thinks, _cute_. it's only when you touch his arm and tug on him that he snaps out of his thoughts.

"c'mon! it's our turn!"

kageyama walks with you to the top of the shrine. he's not really sure what he's supposed to be praying for, so he says a quick thank you for the new year before a making his wish. now he's not sure what he wants to wish for. he's not much of a believer in wishing or praying, but if you wanted to do it, he would gladly follow your footsteps. he opens his eyes and looks over at you. your eyes are still closed and you have your hands together. although you're bundled up, your still shivering in the cold. he can't help but want to hold you so you weren’t as cold. he also wonders why you asked him to come out if you were so cold all the time. once again, he was taken by surprise when you looked at him and smiled.

"all done?"

he nods and the two of you continue on your new year's adventure. he follows behind you to find the fortunes being handed out. you're ahead of him just a bit, but you turn around to make sure he doesn't fall behind. you continue having to grab him by the arm because he slows down so much. you offered to pay for both fortunes, and tobio's too distracted by his thoughts to even answer. you noticed he's dazed and wonder why he's so deep in thought. you nearly had to grab his hand to guide it to grab his fortune after you had grabbed yours.

the two of you are lucky not to receive curses. tobio glances at your paper and notices yours sounds like a blessing to arrive soon. instead of reading his own fortune, he watches as you read yours. you feel lucky with the fortune you received. whether you truly believed in the blessing or not, you were sure this year would be great. there were so many things you would get experience this year and you were happy to start the new year with your best friend.

you glanced at tobio, who was still trying to read your fortune. he flinched when you hid it and squinted at him. he only blinked at you, not showing much of a reaction or emotions. you wondered again what he was thinking about and if he was feeling alright. he continued staring into your eyes, quieter than ever. you remained quiet as well, feeling slightly awkward until he spoke up.

"y/n... what did you wish for back there?"

you were taken aback by his question. you glanced at him again and he was curiously waiting for your reply. you rubbed your cheek softly since the cold air made you feel as though you’d become frozen.

"you're not supposed to ask what people wished for."

his eyebrows furrowed, trying to figure you out.

"you looked like you wished for a lot."

you gave him a gentle smile and shook your head in disagreement. he still wondered what your wish was and why you wouldn't tell him. you took the piece of paper and carefully folded it to place it in your pocket. you could feel tobio's eyes staring at you intently while he waited for your reply. you wanted to tell him your wish but...

"if i tell you, it won't come true."

❁

nationals in tokyo had come and gone in a blink of an eye. you were proud to see your boys made it to the quarter finals, but were devastated when they lost **1:2** to kamomedai. you shed a few tears with the team as they realized their time together would come to an end and the third years would soon be leaving. you cried even harder when you attended their graduation. kiyoko tried to cheer you up by revealing her secrets on calming down nishinoya and tanaka when they got too rowdy (“just rat them out to ennoshita or give ‘em a giant smack on the head,” she told you). of course, the two boys sobbed when they heard their precious manager talking about them. kiyoko then promised that she'd treat you to dinner for having to leave you with her favorite idiots. you were sure going to miss your favorite senpai.

then, you finished your last semester as a first year. you had been studying with tobio and shoyo once again so they wouldn't get stuck as first years. thankfully, they passed their final exams with average grades and your biggest fear had dissolved. so, now you walked home with kageyama, who was happily bouncing his volleyball around. you mischievously stole it midair and laughed when he gave you a glare.

"tobio, do you think we'll be in the same class for our second year?"

"probably not. if anything, i'll probably get stuck with dumbass hinata and you'll be in the college prep classes."

you groaned at the possibility. you weren't too keen on thinking about college but it was closer than you knew. your first year had gone by in a flash so you were sure your second year would only go by quicker. now you were wondering if you should have put a few extra wrong answers just so you'd get stuck with kageyama and hinata. it wouldn't be such a bad school year if you got to hear their arguments and being scolded by the teacher. you smiled at the thought before handing back kageyama his volleyball, who was sadly looking at it as you held it. you start to walk backwards carefully as he goes back to bouncing his volleyball.

"hey, do you remember that punishment you owe me?"

tobio catches the ball in his hands, now holding it close to him. his face contorts into a confused look. his eyes look around, thinking about the last time the two of you had competed. he had served all the punishments you had asked him to do, so what were you talking about?

"i already sent you that picture in my sister's dress."

"not that, weirdo!"

you began to laugh, recalling the night you guys had played online games and you bet you could beat him in a game of chess. you learned that night that kageyama tobio knew absolutely nothing about chess and horribly lost in less than five minutes. you nearly passed out of laughter seeing tobio in one of miwa's tight dresses. you had even set it as your phone's wallpaper for a few weeks before he noticed and yelled at you to change it.

"i meant... remember the training camp with all those amazing schools last summer? we made a deal that whoever stopped running first was the loser. i told you that you owed me a punishment later."

the memory now came back to tobio. how could he forget those two weeks in tokyo with you? it was then that he realized he was hopelessly in love with you. he'd kept to himself about his feelings since then. he didn’t want to think of confessing and ruin the friendship that had formed between you two. he couldn't bare the thought of having to see you at practice every day if you rejected him. so, he locked his feelings away and promised himself that he would be just your best friend.

"oooh, that. you're just now asking for something?"

you laughed and turned back around to walk normally. you shoved your hands in your pocket as kageyama looked at you curiously. you had asked for some time to think on the punishment because...

"i want to go to the sakura festival with you."

tobio stopped in his tracks, the volleyball bouncing away and you had to quickly grab it before it rolled away. you now stood in front of your best friend, a soft expression forming on his face as he thought about your so called punishment. soon, his eyes looked around curiously again.

"y/n, that's not a punishment."

"i know but i didn't how else to ask."

he lets out a soft sigh, rolling his eyes and then looking at you with a smile. he can't help but admire your happy expression as well. he loved how brightly your eyes shined but he could tell you nervous by the way you held your hands behind your back. he wondered if the slight blush appearing on your face was from the cold march weather or you were truly embarrassed to ask him to the festival. he held his arms out and took the volleyball back gently.

"let's go together then."

❁

you held a basket in your hand as tobio walked next to you. he had offered a million times to carry it for you but you refused every time. he felt slightly guilty to let you carry everything while he only followed you. the male then cheered up as you carefully grabbed his arm and happily pulled him into the right direction. he tried his best to remember to walk properly as he became dazed with the way your hand was wrapped around his forearm. you dragged him to a lonely spot in between two freshly bloomed cherry blossom trees. as a petal fluttered down and the breeze nearly blew it away, tobio caught it with his fingers and admired the petal for a moment.

"tobio~ come sit! look how pretty the water is!"

it was only then that he realized you had already set down a blanket with the basket in front of you. he slipped off his shoes and set them aside with yours. the setter then sat down, also admiring the same view you were talking about. the two of you were fortunate to have chosen a day that wasn't as cold and spring had finally come back to say hello. it was perfect and you both couldn't be happier to be out together.

tobio watched with you as couples in small boats floated by on the calm stream. it almost felt like a trance as the male imagined the two of you together in one of those boats. he almost wished he was the one reaching over to place a small peck on your lips and then laughing at something silly you would tell him. you would probably tease him for being so cheesy, but he'd be happy the two of you were living your dreams together. still, he was grateful you had even invited him to have this small picnic with him. that was enough for him.

he was too mesmerized by the parting clouds in the blue sky to notice you had opened the picnic basket. you took out a small speaker and set it between both of you. you looked at tobio and smiled to yourself as you caught his blue eyes in a trance. he seemed to always be daydreaming of something you could never put your finger on. every day you prayed your best friend wasn't hiding something dangerous from you. you hoped he was simply daydreaming and finally loving life. little did you know he was holding back all his hopes and dreams of being more than just your best friend.

as a preppy and catchy melody begins to play, you lie down on your back and put your hands on your stomach. your eyes blinked slowly, appreciating the delicate, pink flowers above your head. you took a mental picture, making sure to capture this moment and storing it into your long-term memory. soon, the flowers would fall off the tree's stems and would be blown away by japan's winds.

_i kiss you each morning with strawberry skies_

you smiled and stared at tobio's back. it's slightly bent forward as he hugs his knees to his chest. you wonder if he's noticed the many milk cartons you brought him. there's only one strawberry milk for yourself, but you made sure to bring plenty of other snacks the two of you could enjoy. you figured he hadn't even noticed the song playing since he didn't react at all. you let out a small giggle, wondering why he's so fixated on the sky.

"y'know, tobio... even if i didn't win the lottery, i'm still glad i got to come here with the person i love the most."

"i love you too."

_‘cause i get so lost in your blueberry eyes_

kageyama turns around at the sound of your voice. his eyes widen and his mouth opens in shock when the male realizes what the two of you just confessed. his heart is pounding, afraid that you'll start laughing at him. you see his cheeks turn a bright red and you know he's embarrassed as he starts to defend himself.

"y-y/n! y-you tricked me, huh?”

you let out a giggle and tobio felt his heart tear just a little. he knew it was too good to be true. he rolls his eyes, almost turning his back on you again but you sit up to touch his back. he looks at you with a confused expression but he can tell that by the way your eyes crease and smile at him, you're being genuine.

_i'm running through my dreams to see you in the light_

“i guess i do tease you a lot but i really mean it.”

“eh? s-since when?”

you shrug and his eyes struggle to meet yours. tobio clenches the blanket underneath him and he’s sure this is all a dream. it all seemed too good to be true. there was no way his best friend felt the same way he did. something about the whole situation made him think he was awake though. in his dreams, you always seemed blurry and distant, your voice barely being heard as you spoke to him. now, with you here and up close, he could see your face clearly.

“when we met, all i wanted was a friend. i didn’t want to sit there all year with someone i barely knew. then, the closer we became, i wanted to know more and more about you. when i asked kiyoko about joining the volleyball club , it was all because i saw how much you loved it. i was so curious about something you loved that i wanted to learn more about it too. i saw the talent you have and i was so curious about you. you were so quiet and always so nervous around me that i wanted you to know i could be your friend. someone you could open up to if you wanted to. the more you opened up, i saw how much potential you had. you weren’t just a shy boy who sat next to me. you’re someone with passions and dreams. no one else could see that because of everything that had happened in the past. you were hurt. i wanted to make sure you knew that it would get better. i wanted to see a smile on your face and the only way i could think of doing that was by teasing you so much. even if i seemed like the most annoying human being in the world, i wanted to see your smile. the day i first heard your laugh... that was when i fell in love with you.”

it was quiet now. tobio couldn’t tear his eyes off of you. his heart was racing and the butterflies in his stomach only him dizzier and dizzier. he felt his body move closer to you and you sat up a bit more. your faces were closer than ever, breaths slowly being inhaled as the wind softly blew past the two of you. tobio took in your scent as he wrapped his arm around you, his hand landing gently on your waist. although your noses were nearly touching, he could still see a soft smile appear on your face when you began to sing.

_"'cause i get so lost in-"_

you brought your hand up to cup his face. your eyes met tobio’s before you closed them and pulled him closer. your thumb gently rubbed his cheek as your head titled and his eyelids fluttered shut. the world around kageyama tobio seemed to fade away when your lips met his. he feels the warmth of your hand against his face and can’t help but pull you closer to him. your lips were just as soft as he had always imagined, almost tasting like strawberries to him. it felt as though a cherry blossom had bloomed when his lips moved against yours. he took a deep breath through his nose, star struck when you finally pulled away so the two of you could catch your breath. your noses touched again and his eyes finally fluttered open to meet yours. the two of you smiled and you moved to lie your head on his shoulder. as he placed his hand on top the one holding his face, tobio heard you sing the final line of the song.

_"your blueberry eyes."_


	10. author’s note ❁

hehe, how cute was that?

i really enjoyed writing this adventure of you and tobio. i like to go back and read my own writing since i find the personality i gave you so entertaining! even if there are part that don’t seem like something you would do or things you say, i hope you enjoyed the little adventures you got to go on with my favorite boy. please take care of him! 

i’ll be coming back time after time to reread and make minor edits since i tend to skim over little mistakes. i’m not sure if i’ll continue on with your adventures but know that i will be moving some of my other pieces to ao3. for now, i’m happy i finished this piece. it kept me entertained while i’m stuck quarantined:0

thank you again if you made it this far! it really makes me happy seeing the little growth my writing has. i’ll continue writing when i can, but for now, i leave you with this. 

if your curious about anything, you can always comment your questions or feel free to message me. i have twitter @waffleplier and i’m typically active on there :)

i hope you all have a wonderful day/evening/night. i wish you all so much happiness and please drink some water while you find other pieces to read! take care.

w💓


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